Diversion
by punklau
Summary: With AJ, Punk and Dean finally settled into a safe home life, will everything be as simple as it seems to be? How will they deal with being told the hidden stories of their past that they had been protected from all this time? And who will be the one to reveal them all? Will they ever find happiness after suicides, abuse, death row, fires and devastating secrets left to unfold?
1. Chapter 1

**Picking It Back Up**

* * *

 _One year later…_

AJ walked up the stairs of the apartment block, turning the corners and following the spirals, reaching her designated door and knocking on it. Her feet ached from standing in court all day and all she had been dreaming about was collapsing down on the couch at home.

She waited for the door to open, smiling as she saw JC standing.

"Hey." JC smiled as AJ nodded.

"No one is biting anyone, are they?" AJ smiled, walking on into the apartment which she was very familiar with, of course just for the reason that her children went to their grandfather when no one else was around. The biting was in reference to Frankie who had bit JC's arm the other day. He was mischievous for sure.

"No not today." JC smiled, "How was work?" He asked her as AJ just nodded and then rubbed her forehead.

"Really tiring. Sick of hearing my own voice." She said truthfully as JC smiled, watching AJ walk into the living room where Keala, 7, was watching TV and Fankie, 1, was sitting on the floor playing with his toys and crawling around. He'd gotten so big of course and was his own little person. He was adorable, cheeky and already kinda manipulating which AJ found hilarious. He was starting to look a lot like Punk more than he did as a baby, and that was also scaring her.

"Hi, mommy." Keala smiled.

"Hey, baby." AJ nodded, walking over to them, lifting up Frankie from the ground as he grabbed a hold of her face, very happy to see his mother clearly, "Hi." AJ laughed a little, kissing his little hands which he was tapping off her mouth, hearing him laugh as she smiled and sat down with him on her lap, "Have you had fun with JC?" AJ asked them both. They didn't refer to him as grandpa. It just never stuck. JC just came naturally.

"He took me for ice-cream on my way home from school, and we gave Frankie a little bit and he liked it." Keala said as AJ smiled.

"Just a bit of vanilla." JC assured AJ who just smiled and nodded. Sometimes she sensed that he thought she was going to give him into trouble, but he'd very much proven that he was responsible enough to look after the kids. He'd been officially clean now for 7 months. Once he had started his rehab, there were a few stumbles where he relapsed, which hurt Punk and Dean a great deal, but this had been his longest run being clean and he was doing great.

"You had ice-cream, baby?" AJ smiled, looking down at Frankie who was trying to get back down onto the ground to play with his toys, "We gotta go home now." AJ told him as Frankie crooked his neck back and looked at her, "Uh huh." She nodded. He was a little bundle of energy and no longer that little new born. He was crawling, babbling, laughing, standing with help from other objects, eating some normal food here and there. AJ couldn't believe how the time had gone by.

"Keala, why don't you go pack up your things into your school bag whilst your mom gets Frankie ready to go." JC said as Keala nodded.

"Ok." Keala said, jumping down from the couch and wandering off to the kitchen where her school bag was.

"So they've been ok?" AJ smiled, putting Frankie's jacket on him as he sat on her lap.

"They're great. They're never any trouble." JC assured her, "You know I can watch them any time. It doesn't even have to be just whilst you work. If you ever want a night off, I don't mind." He said.

"Don't tempt me." AJ laughed a little.

"I'm serious." JC nodded, "Can't be easy with a full-time job like yours, and Phil's, and then having to come home and still do more. Maybe that's why I didn't quite get that parenting thing." He laughed a little.

"Yeah, maybe." AJ smiled a little.

"It's usually ok past 8pm. Both of them are in bed and me and Phil… are normally also in bed." She laughed to herself as JC smiled.

"You don't need to explain what happens next." JC assured her.

"Oh, no. I mean we're in bed sleeping." AJ laughed a little as he nodded, "But we do really appreciate you taking care of them. It helps us a lot." She said.

"Hey, I love it." JC told her truthfully as AJ just smiled, pulling Frankie's hat over him on top of his little brown mop of hair, adjusting it around his eyes and smiling. Of course it was a red Blackhawks beanie which Punk had bought him.

"Ok, I'm ready." Keala smiled, coming out from the kitchen with her jacket on and her back on her back. Although only a year had gone by, Keala had also grown, not necessarily in height but she was growing as her own little person. She still had the greatest wit and humour about her, and Punk and AJ still saw her as their little baby, but she figured that would never go away.

"Ok." AJ smiled, standing up with Frankie perched at her hip, slinging his bag over her shoulder as they got ready to leave the apartment.

* * *

"Hey, are you splashing mommy?" AJ smiled, "Huh?" She said, leaning over the bath tub in the bathroom where she was bathing Frankie who was splashing his hands around the shallow water. He loved bath time, and loved even more to splash his mother or father.

Although working long hours and coming home where she felt tired and exhausted from the day she'd had, she still loved coming home to her babies and spending time with them. It was the best part of her day.

"Ok, you. You've been in here for long enough." AJ smiled, lifting Frankie up under his arms as the one year old pouted his lip and looked at her sadly, "Don't give me that face, mister." AJ said, wrapping him up in the towel and taking him into her bedroom.

Meanwhile Punk had just got in the door where Keala had ran out of the living room to greet him right away.

"Hi, daddy." Keala smiled, standing in her Batman pyjamas with freshly done pletes that her mother had executed after bathing her. Night time was a very busy time for them, clearly.

"Hey, baby." Punk smiled, the best thing to see when he had been working a long shift was his wife and children, "Where's mommy?" Punk asked her, taking his jacket off and hanging it at the end of the staircase.

"She's giving Frankie a bath." Keala explained, "You need to wash your hands and face." She said, noticing Punk's hands black with some dusty black prints over his face. Working around oils and smoke in a garage meant that sometimes he came home a little bit dirty, and Keala had never been a fan of that.

"I know. I need to shower." Punk told her, "You had your dinner?" He asked her.

"Yeah, we had spaghetti meatballs. There is some left for you." She told him. Punk was very proud of the cool little lady she was becoming. She still had the greatest sense of humour but he could also see traits of her mother's strength taking over her too. She was always his baby girl, no matter what.

"Ok. Well I'm gonna go shower, are you ok down here? You doing homework or something?" He asked her.

"No, I finished that at JC's. I'm watching Spongebob." She told him.

"I see." Punk nodded, "So it's basically the most important part of your night?" He asked her.

"Yes." Keala nodded.

"Ok, well on you go. I'll be down soon." He told her as she ran off back into the living room as he smiled to himself and headed on upstairs.

Like he expected, married life wasn't any different from what life felt like before. Of course there seemed to be more of a unity and a bigger sense of family, but he and AJ had always joked from the minute they began dating that they were like an old married couple.

That didn't mean to say their wedding day wasn't one of the best days of his life. It was small and private with very few people there, and it took place back at their home. The honeymoon was great afterwards too. He didn't have to go on about the reasons why.

He got the top of the stairs and headed across into he and AJ's bedroom where he saw his son wrapped up in one of his little hooded towels, crawling around their bed whilst AJ was fixing his diaper and pyjamas.

"Frankie, look." AJ said, noticing their one-year-old was facing the opposite way, watching him turn his head and notice Punk, making an O shape with his mouth and getting excited as AJ smiled.

"Hey, dude." Punk smirked, collapsing down on the bed as Frankie crawled to him immediately, "How's my guy doing?" He asked him as Frankie sat beside him. He had a Yoda towel which had a hood with little ears sticking up. Punk of course bought it.

"He is annoyingly awake for this time of night." AJ admitted, not even out of her work dress yet, "I think your dad must have been playing his head banging songs." She said as Punk laughed a little.

"How were they for him?" Punk asked her, leaning on his elbow on his side as he tickled Frankie, making him squeal and laugh.

"Yeah, they were fine." AJ nodded, "How was work?" She asked him.

"Busy." Punk said, "Didn't even get a break." He told her.

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal." AJ made a face.

"Well, it was either no break or stay another hour later." Punk shrugged as AJ just nodded, "Keala was of course disgusted by how dirty I am." He admitted, sitting up once AJ shuffled Frankie over to her to put his diaper on and his pyjamas.

"My girl has clean standards." AJ smiled, "Is she ok down there?" She asked.

"Yeah, watching SpongeBob." Punk nodded, standing up and stripping his t-shirt off as AJ watched, trying to concentrate on dressing her son for bed, "Eyes on the child." Punk smirked to her as she just smiled and turned back to Frankie who was pulling her hair whilst she put him in his pyjamas for the night.

"There's dinner I left for you. You just need to heat it up." AJ told him.

"Yeah, Keala informed me the minute I got in." Punk said as AJ smiled, "I'm gonna take a shower first."

"Ok, well I'm gonna put this monster to bed." AJ said, lifting up Frankie from the bed once she had him in his little pyjamas, "You want a kiss from daddy before bed?" AJ asked him as Frankie just looked around. He was so fascinating to watch at the age he was at. He was crawling so fast, picking up things and babbling what he thought was words, and so much more amusing things. Punk and AJ loved it.

"Sorry we couldn't play today, buddy." Punk frowned, feeling shitty that he'd basically just got in the door and Frankie was already going to bed, "You go down easy for mommy, ok?" He said, walking over and giving him a kiss as Frankie slapped his hands off Punk's cheeks, "He's getting good at the slapping."

"Stop teaching him how to slap people, Phil." AJ warned as Punk sniggered to himself and wandered into the bathroom to have a shower.

"Oh, there's water everywhere!" He yelled from the bathroom as AJ laughed to herself and looked at Frankie who was of course the culprit to the splashed water. She just smiled, kissing his head and walking off to go put their youngest child to bed.

* * *

"How did it go in court today?" Punk asked, later that night as he walked into the living room with a bowl of chips, sitting them down on the coffee table, grabbing a handful and collapsing down beside AJ, sinking into the couch after a long day.

"It was ok." AJ said.

"You always think it's just ok and then you smash it out the park." Punk looked at her.

"Well I know how fast it can all change. Takes one slip up, one second just to turn the whole thing around." AJ said, "So you gotta be careful." She nodded.

"Do you ever get nervous?" Punk asked her.

"Not like I used to. Depends how big the case is." AJ shrugged, "Honestly, the thing I'm finding the hardest right now is not seeing Keala and Frankie enough." She admitted truthfully, "Time just runs away at court."

"I know but we got days off, and your schedule dies down a little once you've wrapped up a case." He said, "It just feels like that when you're in it." He assured her, "And honestly, Frankie and Keala don't seem all that bothered." He laughed a little.

"Yeah, that's true." AJ smiled to herself, "Things still quiet and… drama free at work?" She asked, cupping his cheek and playing with his ear.

"If that's your way of asking what Sam is doing, then your answer is nothing. He doesn't come near me, Ape."

"Well, I still wonder, ok." AJ said as Punk just nodded.

"Well you don't have to wonder. He stays away from me and Dean. We'll occasionally pass him every now and then, I'll ask him about the rota… it's just work and that's it. It's in the past." Punk said as AJ just nodded.

"Yeah, well you know I just worry." AJ mumbled as Punk turned to her and nodded.

"I know you do." He said, nudging her neck and kissing her cheek as she smiled, "But you don't have to. I bet you thousands of workers have ridiculous fights with their bosses over similar things." He nodded, "It's over with now. We've moved on." He said. He knew it was in her nature to worry, especially about something like Sam, but there was no issues anymore. Sam barely came near him or Dean.

"I know. I just like to know you're ok." AJ nodded.

"I'm fine." Punk smiled, kissing her head as she rested in against him, "What are you doing with your day off tomorrow?" He asked her.

"I'm going shopping with Anna. She wants help with picking furniture for the nursery. Dean is working and apparently he said he wasn't fussed about what the furniture is like." AJ shrugged.

"Well that's Dean for you." Punk laughed to himself.

"I think CJ is coming too." AJ nodded.

"So it's a fun day out with the pregnant lady and the kiddies?" Punk smiled to her, "Sounds like something I'd avoid at all costs." He said as AJ smiled.

"Anna wants a second opinion. I think she has a right to be excited after what they've been through." AJ said as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, of course." Punk said seriously, "Well I shouldn't be as late tomorrow as I was tonight." He said as AJ nodded.

"Good, I don't like when you come home late." She frowned as he smiled.

"Whys that?" He laughed a little.

"Because I get less Phil time." She frowned as he smiled and looked down at her.

"I can make it up to you." He smirked, pressing his lips down against hers, kissing her softly as she kissed back, running her hand through his slicked hair which was coming undone, forcing her body against his as they collapsed down on the couch. There was always time for each other.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think! Just a little opener for this next part of the story. Lots going on soon so stay tuned and drop a review. Thanks.**


	2. Getting By

**Getting By**

* * *

 **Sorry about posting the wrong chapter! My ass wasn't paying attention lmao. Enjoy!**

* * *

"This is super nice." AJ nodded, standing in the baby store and looking over at the cribs and the different furniture with Anna who was 6 months pregnant. Frankie was in his stroller which AJ was pushing and Keala and CJ were wondering around touching things they probably shouldn't have been touching.

"I don't know if that's a little too boyish." Anna said. They'd found out just a few weeks ago that they were expecting a girl, which excited Anna and terrified Dean.

"What about this white one then?" AJ asked, "We had white furniture for Keala I'm sure." AJ said as Anna looked at it, checking it out thoroughly. She was so glad that this was finally happening for them after all they'd been through. After the first miscarriage, they went onto have another one. Anna wasn't sure she even wanted to try again, but thankfully they did and this time their baby was doing great.

"That is nice." Anna admitted, looking at the matching dressers to go with it and the changing table whilst AJ looked too, both of them suddenly turning around when they heard a smash.

AJ looked over first to where Keala and CJ were standing, looking on at them standing still and looking down at the ground.

"Let's hope it's not expensive." Anna laughed a little as AJ left Frankie in his stroller with Anna to go over to CJ and Keala.

"What happened?" AJ asked them, walking around the corner where she saw a bowl of some sort had smashed.

"Keala did it." CJ immediately said as Keala gasped.

"No, I didn't." Keala said, "Mommy I didn't." She told her mother truthfully.

"I don't care who did it, are you both ok?" AJ asked them as they nodded, watching as the shop assistant walked over, "I'm so sorry about this." AJ shook her head as the shop assistant stayed silent.

"I'm afraid you'll have to pay for that." The assistant nodded as AJ looked across at her.

"It was just an accident." AJ said.

"It's policy. There's a sign on the door too." The shop assistant said as AJ placed her hands on her hips and looked at CJ and Keala.

"How much was it?" AJ nodded, watching the woman pick up the same item and look at the bottom where the price was.

"One fifty" She smiled.

"One hundred and fifty?" AJ raised her eyebrows as the woman nodded, "Alright, fine. I'll pay it before we leave the store." AJ nodded, "But… just so you know, I think it's mildly dumb to have ornaments and objects in place which could break in a baby store, where parents take their kids sometimes. They have little hands. They didn't deliberately break them."

"Well, we expect parents to keep a closer eye on their children." The woman said hastily as AJ felt rage in her stomach, turning to CJ and Keala who just stood watching.

"C'mon." AJ said, biting her lip, placing her hand on Keala and CJ's shoulder and guiding them over to where Anna was with Frankie.

"Mommy, I didn't mean to I'm sorry." Keala said, owning up to it after feeling guilty. She'd only picked it up to see if there was something inside and it slipped out of her hands.

"Oh, no it's ok, baby." AJ nodded to her, "Don't worry." She told them both, "We won't be long in here and then we can go for some lunch. Just… don't go wandering around." She told them whilst walking back over to Anna.

"What's the damage?" Anna asked.

"One hundred and fifty." AJ shook her head.

"Oh my God." Anna shook her head, "Who prices things in here?"

"Probably the bitch who just spoke to me." AJ said, "They probably sit all their expensive ornaments hanging off the edge of shelves so people will knock them over." AJ shook her head as Anna nodded, "Anyway, do you like this one?" She asked, still looking at the white furniture.

"Yeah, I do actually." Anna nodded, "I think I'm gonna go with this one." She nodded.

* * *

"Why didn't you wanna go baby shopping with Anna?" Punk asked, standing outside the garage with Dean on his break, "And why have you started this shit?" Punk asked, trying to pull the cigarette from his brothers mouth as Dean slapped his hand away.

"Because I've been stressed. Moving out of the apartment into an actual house. Trying to get everything ready for the baby. Finding out it's a girl has added another layer of stress anyway." Dean said.

"Why?" Punk laughed.

"Because it's different. I'm not saying I'm gonna love her more than CJ but like…it's a girl." Dean said as Punk laughed a little, "And plus, I've never actually had a baby before. Yes, I have CJ but… I wasn't there when he was born or when he was a baby." He said as Punk nodded, "So this is all still a first-time for me." He reminded his brother, "Plus, the two miscarriages are giving me anxiety." He said.

"Smoking won't help with that." Punk informed him as he just blew the smoke in his face as Punk pushed him over, "You know the baby is healthy and fine. Don't worry yourself over things that don't need to be worried out." He said, "So why didn't you want to go shopping with Anna?"

"No big reason." Dean said honestly, "She asked me and I was working anyway, and then I just said it's not really a big deal to me. She knows that wasn't me being rude or anything, and then she said she'd rather AJ there anyway so." He shrugged.

"AJ hates shopping so that is all on Anna." Punk laughed to himself, "Especially shopping with kids. She just cuts the trip short, goes for food and then comes home." He said.

"Well good luck to her because Anna likes to spend a full day shopping." Dean shook his head.

"Came up with any names yet?" Punk asked him, eating a bag of chips and sliding down the stoned wall to sit on the ground. They normally took their break outside as there wasn't much room inside the garage, and most of the workers smoked so most of them were outside anyway.

"No, not yet. We've ran through a few but… we've not found anything we liked." Dean said.

"Yeah, took us a while." Punk nodded, "Call her Phil. These unisex names are becoming more popular by the day."

"I am not calling my daughter Phil." Dean rolled his eyes.

"It's a good name." Punk shrugged.

"No, it's an awful name, even for a boy." Dean said as Punk just rolled his eyes, noticing their father walk down the sidewalk towards the garage.

"Call her JC." Punk laughed to himself as he stood up whilst Dean elbowed him.

"Not working as usual." JC nodded to them.

"We are entitled to a break, you know." Dean said as JC just waved his hand.

"I'm kidding." He said, "I just came to see if you needed me to watch the kids tomorrow?" He asked Punk, "AJ never said to me when she left last night."

"No, I'm off tomorrow but probably the next day, yeah." Punk nodded, "I'll give you a text or call." He said as JC nodded.

"Right on." JC said.

"You off to a meeting?" Dean asked him as JC nodded.

"Yeah." JC nodded, "And why are you smoking, boy?" He asked, grabbing the cigarette from Dean, putting it on the ground and standing on it.

"His excuse is he's having a daughter." Punk nodded.

"I'd take two daughter's any day." JC shook his head.

"Shut up old man, don't you have another date with your rehab buddy?" Dean asked.

"Oh yeah, what's her name again?" Punk asked, "Lydia?"

"The blonde who is twenty years younger than you." Dean said as JC just nodded.

"You two got jokes, it's cute." JC said, "Jealous your old man still has game?"

"Jealous is not a word I'd use to describe how I feel about this." Punk said, "But if it keeps you going to the meetings then whatever." He waved his hand.

"I just hope you know I'm not referring to her as my step mom when I am the same age as her." Dean said.

"I've been on like four dates with her." JC shook his head, "It's either her or the hookers. You decide."

"You got some problems." Dean nodded, "No wonder mom had to slap you around senseless."

"Trust me, you two never got to see your mom at the peak of her anger. Unrecognisable." JC nodded.

"I can imagine." Punk nodded, watching as his father's eyes looked over into the garage where Sam was lurking and had looked out at them, "Stop staring." Punk told him.

"He still keeping away from you?" JC asked.

"Yeah, he is." Punk nodded, "So stop death staring him please." He said as JC just turned away, "Thank you."

"To be fair, he's probably wanting us back in, our break expired like ten minutes ago." Dean admitted.

"I need to go anyway. Just call me when you need me to watch the kids." He said as Punk nodded, "See you later." He nodded to them as they said goodbye and headed back into the garage.

* * *

"One hundred and fifty dollars?!" Punk shook his head, standing in the kitchen with AJ whilst Keala sat at the kitchen table with Frankie also sitting in his high chair waiting for dinner.

"Oh, daddy don't shout at me." Keala placed her hands over her ears as Punk turned around to her.

"Well why were you picking things up that you shouldn't have been?" Punk asked her.

"Because I wanted to see what was inside the bowl and it just fell and I didn't mean it." She said, her lip starting to quiver as Punk watched and instantly felt a hollow feeling in his chest.

"Alright, alright. Don't start that." Punk sighed, "It's fine." He nodded, walking over to her and sitting down across from her, "Accidents happen." He said.

"But you're mad." Keala huffed.

"I'm not. I'm mad that someone priced a bowl at one hundred and fifty dollars." He turned to AJ, "What's that all about?"

"I have no clue." AJ said, "The good news is Anna got the furniture she liked." AJ said whilst Punk quickly dried Keala's tears to avoid him feeling any worse. Sometimes he came across more angrier than he seemed, and there was something about his voice being loud that Keala just didn't enjoy, so he instantly felt bad.

"I break things all the time, it's fine." Punk assured Keala.

"Yeah, you do and I don't shout at you." Keala said angrily as Punk nodded.

"I didn't mean to shout at you, baby." Punk said, "It's not your fault." He nodded as Keala dried her own eyes and pushed his hands away.

"Keala tell daddy what other stores you went into today." AJ said whilst fixing dinner up.

"No, I'm not talking to daddy right now." Keala said, refusing to look at her father as Punk just nodded.

"Fine, Frankie will talk to me." Punk said, looking at Frankie who was banging one of his toys off the board on his high chair, babbling nonsense as Punk just nodded in agreement with him.

"Frankie doesn't want to talk to you either." Keala mumbled as AJ just smiled a little. She had the same little snarky attitude he did, he assumed it's why they clashed sometimes.

"Ok here." AJ said, giving Keala her dinner and sitting down some for Frankie too which Punk took over to him to feed him, "How was work then?" AJ asked, taking her seat at the table whilst Punk multi-tasked by eating his own dinner and also feeding Frankie.

"It was fine. My dad stopped by wanting to know when he was babysitting next." Punk said, "He was going to one of his meetings."

"It's great he still goes. I mean some people think that once they're a few months clean they can just split from the group meetings and the talks." AJ said, taking a sip of her water.

"Well, really he just goes for the woman he sees, who is the same age as me." He rolled his eyes as AJ smiled a little.

"He is handsome." AJ shrugged.

"Please don't." Punk said as AJ laughed a little.

"For an older man I mean." AJ said as Punk just shook his head.

"Would you like me hitting on your mom?" He asked her.

"What mom?" AJ scoffed, "And I'm not hitting on him." She said, "If it's making him happy then you should be happy for him." She shrugged, "He's came a long way." She nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "Hey, you still not talking to me?" Punk asked, looking across at Keala who refused to look at him, "Alright well I'll guess we'll just have to cancel our pizza date tomorrow then." Punk shrugged as Keala slowly looked up as AJ smiled to herself, "Oh now you look up?"

"Don't cancel the pizza." Keala shook her head, "I'll talk to you." She nodded as Punk smiled, giving Frankie more mash potato as he kicked his legs around.

"Good, I'm glad." Punk nodded as he just exchanged smiles with his wife.


	3. Old Friends

**Old Friends**

* * *

"Do you just wake up and sit and wait for us?" Punk asked the next morning as he walked into Frankie's room where the one-year-old was sitting in his crib playing with one of his stuffed animals, touching it's ear and trying to poke it through the spaces in the cribs. Sometimes he even threw them out and onto the floor, "When are you gonna start talking to me?" Punk asked him, lifting him up from the crib. It'd been so great to watch him grow into a little person just like they had watched with Keala. He had the same adorable nature as Keala with a little more mischievousness about him. Punk was just waiting on him taking his first full steps and speaking his first words, which of course he was forcing dada onto him every day.

"Man, you stink." Punk shook his head in the middle of changing Frankie's diaper as he just laughed at his father and looked around, "Yeah, something funny?" Punk asked him as he just laughed again, causing Punk to smile.

"So are we gonna try more oatmeal today?" Punk asked him, buttoning up the vest once putting him in a clean diaper, "Huh? We gonna try oatmeal and not spit it out at me?" He questioned as Frankie just blew bubbles with his mouth, "Mhm, ok." Punk agreed, getting some clothes for him.

No matter what they done, Frankie just didn't seem to like any breakfast items. They struggled to feed him at breakfast time. Punk put it down to him just not being a morning person but he supposed he was just one. Considering he scoffed lunch and dinner, they knew there wasn't a problem, he was just fussy.

"What t-shirt?" Punk asked himself, "We have a turtles one." Punk held it up for him to see as Frankie just looked at his father like he had two heads, "Or we have one with a dinosaur on it." He said, holding the tiny little t-shirts up as Frankie just kicked his legs, "Turtles it is then." Punk made up his mind, putting him into the clothes and then picking him up, holding him by his hip and heading on downstairs where his wife was sitting with his daughter at the table. It was nice when they could have a day off together and spend a morning without rushing around like headless chickens.

"Oh, morning." AJ smiled as she saw Frankie notice her and smile, "You would never be able to tell that daddy dressed you today." She said sarcastically as she noticed the teenage mutant ninja turtles shirt on him.

"Uh, he picked it." Punk lied as AJ just smiled.

"Mhm." AJ said.

"Is that how you dressed me?" Keala asked worriedly.

"Yes I used to put skull headbands on you." Punk smiled to her.

"Didn't people think I was a boy then?" Keala said with panic.

"No." Punk scoffed, putting Frankie in his high chair and walking over further into the kitchen to start the oatmeal and other breakfast items for his family.

"Well… one time someone thought you were a boy, but you were still really, really little." AJ nodded, "Do you remember?" AJ smiled over to Punk who just nodded.

"Yeah, I remember." He scoffed, "I remember you pushing me back from beating him." He shook his head as AJ laughed to herself.

" _What do we normally get him for his birthday? I've been around the guy since literally forever and I still don't feel like I know what he likes." Punk shook his head, 7 years ago in a store with AJ trying to pick up something for his brother's birthday. Their few month old daughter was in her stroller fast asleep._

" _That's because he doesn't like anything. He's boring." AJ said, looking around and pushing the stroller, "What if we just get him vouchers for something?" She asked._

" _What vouchers? He doesn't go anywhere." Punk said, "Might come down to just putting money in a card."_

" _That always seems lazy." AJ shook her head, "What about some cubs stuff. He stays wearing that dirty beanie. We could get him a new one."_

" _Woah, don't splash the cash." Punk laughed._

" _Obviously we can give him money too." AJ made a face, "I just mean for something to open. It doesn't feel right not having something to open up on your birthday. He's just so difficult." She shook her head._

" _Fine, let's just pick up some cubs or hawks stuff, see what they've got." He nodded._

 _They eventually grabbed a few things to wrap up for Dean and took them to the counter where a friendly man was standing behind and checking their things out. He of course noticed the stroller and decided to make light conversation._

" _Oh, how old?" He smiled as he put their things in a bag whilst Punk brought his wallet out._

" _Just three months." AJ smiled politely, leaning forward and making sure Keala was ok, tilting the hood of the stroller down a little so the man could see her. She loved showing her gorgeous baby off. Punk on the other hand just wanted to pay and leave the store._

" _Oh, he's adorable." The man smiled as Punk and AJ both looked at him with the same angered expression._

" _It's a girl." Punk said, the anger in his voice noticeable as the man just cringed._

" _My apologises, I just thought with the skulls on her onesie-"_

" _Girls can't wear skulls?" Punk tilted his head as the man nervously took the money from him._

" _They can I just… sorry." The man shook his head as AJ tugged Punk's hand, a signal for him to calm down and behave, "She's beautiful." The man nodded as AJ just smiled whilst Punk took the bag from the counter and shook his head._

" _Thank you." AJ smiled, heading on out the store as she turned to Punk who still looked angry, "I told you to lay off the skulls."_

" _She doesn't even look like a boy." Punk made a face, opening up the store door and letting her out first with the stroller._

" _All babies look the same. It's not like she's covered in pink." AJ shrugged, not feeling that offended._

" _I hope she didn't hear." Punk stuck his head into the stroller, making sure Keala was ok as AJ just shook her head._

" _I'm sure you care more than Keala does." AJ said, "Now take me for lunch I'm getting bored of this shopping stuff." She told him as he nodded and smiled._

* * *

"Why don't you try him with yoghurt?" AJ asked, sitting across from Punk at the table, watching him try to feed Frankie the oatmeal which just wasn't happening. They'd even try and trick him with putting some fruit with it but he still knew what they were doing and he spat it right back out and made the most hilarious faces.

"He'll hate that even more." Punk said, "I think it might be the texture. It looks like he gets the creeps. Like he doesn't like the feeling of it." He said, "And my patience is running out." He admitted, sitting the spoon back in the bowl and sliding it across to AJ who just laughed a little.

"When are we actually going to meet this… woman your dad has been seeing?" AJ asked curiously, trying Frankie with some more oatmeal as the one-year-old got frustrated and took the spoon away from her, "Oh, ok." AJ laughed at his angry little face.

"I mean, probably when he figures out if he's going to stick with it or just fuck it up." Punk shrugged as Keala looked up.

"Swear jar." Keala said, jumping off the chair and running over to the kitchen as Punk rolled his eyes. He watched as she climbed up onto the kitchen counter with the little muscles she had, and grabbed the jar and his wallet. Every time he swore he put money in it for her. It was a dumb in his opinion because he just kept swearing and losing money.

"I didn't swear." Punk scoffed, watching Keala run back over to him and hand him the jar and his wallet.

"You did you said the F word." Keala said, "JC says it all the time. And Uncle Dean. And mommy. And you. You're all bad." Keala concluded, "So put the money in." She demanded.

"Sometimes you scare me." Punk told her, taking a few dollars out of his wallet and putting it in the jar for her.

"Good." Keala smiled, running back over to put the jar and his wallet back over as Punk just shook his head as AJ smiled.

"She keeps you in line. Means I don't have to anymore." AJ shrugged.

"She'll get fed up eventually." Punk nodded, "Anyway, I've met the woman."

"Yeah, not properly though." AJ said.

"It's just weird. She's literally the same age as us." Punk shook his head.

"She obviously likes him, though. Otherwise why bother. And they're both dealing with the same stuff, maybe it's a good thing." AJ said, "He should introduce us to her properly."

"It kinda frustrates me, though." Punk said, "He's putting all his effort into the relationship. He's got his act together, he even smells nice sometimes." Punk nodded, "And he couldn't do a single thing for my mom?" Punk shrugged.

"Well hey, you're always gonna be bitter about that. Any person whose parents are broken up or something happened, and they move on, they find it hard. Good thing for you is you never really knew what it was like to have a mom and dad who were together." She shrugged.

"Or he just didn't love her like he says he did. I mean, they had me when they were still at school. I was probably the glue keeping them together and then Dean tipped it all over the edge." Punk said.

"No, I don't believe that. Whenever your dad talks about your mom you can see he loved her. You don't know what it was like back then. Must have been terrifying to have a kid so young. Lot of pressure." She nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose." Punk said, "We would have been fine with it." Punk shrugged.

"You don't know that." AJ said, "We broke up and that was without any babies or other commitments, who's to say what would have happened." She said.

"But the good old death row got us back together." Punk nodded, he liked to make light joke of it, otherwise it would have drove him insane. He liked to pretend he was over it. He wasn't. He never would be.

"I think we would have wound up back together some way or another. That break up was only good for one thing and it was realising how ugly life was without each other." She said truthfully.

"It is way too early for this." Punk shook his head as AJ kicked him under the table and he smiled, "Ok, you." Punk turned back to Frankie, "Please just eat some oatmeal. I know it tastes boring but… it's what little guys like you eat." He said.

"He obviously doesn't want it." Keala told her father like he was stupid.

"What if we give him a bit of pancake." AJ said, breaking it off and giving it to Frankie who took it from her and put it in his mouth, chewing on it as Punk and AJ smiled.

"He only likes the good, rich people food I see." Punk nodded.

"Only the best." AJ smiled.

* * *

" _Why are you holding him like that?" 18 year old Vanessa asked, sitting up in the hospital bed as she looked over at JC who was awkwardly holding a few hour old Phil in his arms._

" _Like what?" JC asked her._

" _Like he's a cactus." She shook her head with a little smile._

" _I've never held a baby before." JC said, taking a seat over by the bed, "He's like… super small. Should he be that small?" He asked her._

" _He didn't feel small." Vanessa groaned a little, "I guess six pounds is kinda small." She nodded, "He's fine, though." She smiled. Although they were very much young and clueless, there was never one single thought to take any other action other than take their son home. There was so no considering abortion. No considering adoption. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they wanted their son._

" _I can't believe he's not called JC the second." JC said as Vanessa scoffed._

" _You're lucky I let you slip Jack in there." She said as JC smiled a little._

" _Can't believe I have a son." He shook his head as Vanessa smiled._

" _Well you better because he's right there." She laughed a little, watching as the room door opened, looking over at the familiar face standing with a card in her hand. Vanessa and JC both looked over in shock, "Why are you here?" Vanessa shook her head as she looked over at her former best friend. Former, meaning that she stopped speaking to her after she began dating JC._

" _I just wanted to give you this." Jean said, walking further into the room with the card, "Is he… ok?" She asked._

" _Look for yourself." Vanessa said. She'd lost a hell of a lot in the space of nine months. She'd lost her family and best friends. All she had was JC and now their son. That was all she cared about, but of course it hurt her to lose the people she thought cared about her, especially one of her closest friends._

" _He's really cute." Jean smiled, extending the card to Vanessa who took it from her and sat it over, "So… you… you're just not coming back to school anymore?" Jean asked._

" _I think I'll be a little busy." Vanessa nodded, "Not that you'd care." She said._

" _Don't be like that, Ness." Jean shook her head as JC stood up and put Phil in his bassinet._

" _I'm going for a drink." JC told them, "Of coffee." He looked Jean in the eye to make sure she knew what type of drink he meant. He didn't want to be in the room with two best friends ready to scrap with one another._

" _What's his name?" Jean asked, sitting her bag down as she got a better look at Phil sleeping in his bassinet._

" _Phil." Vanessa said, playing with the end of the bed sheets, looking down, "You're the first person to come visit us." She admitted truthfully, "My mom didn't even call." She shrugged as Jean looked over._

" _I just wanted to make sure you were ok." Jean said, "I hate the way things went with us."_

" _You mean you telling me to stay away from you if I wanted to be with JC?" Vanessa said._

" _He is trouble. You know that." Jean said, "Don't you remember that night?"_

" _Yes, I do. Don't bring it up." Vanessa shut her down quickly as Jean just folded her arms, "I love him and he's good to me-"_

" _Is he?" Jean asked, "I told you when you started seeing him that this exact scenario would happen. You're now attached to him for life because of this little guy." Jean said, "That means he is in your life forever. You know he's on drugs, right?"_

" _Yes I know he is." Vanessa said, "He's not out of control." Vanessa said, "And he'll be a good dad."_

" _You're sure of it?" Jean asked._

" _Is this what you came here to do? Shout at me some more? Be my mom?" Vanessa said, "Because I'm tired already. I just had a baby. If you have nothing nice to say to me you should just leave."_

" _I just don't want to see anything bad happen to you. His habits are going to turn into addictions, and then you're gonna have a son wondering where his dad is all the time, and you'll be on your own." Jean said._

" _You should just go." Vanessa nodded, "To think… to think I thought you were like a sister to me." Vanessa said, "And now this is how you treat me."_

" _Think about how you're treating yourself, Vanessa. You're worth a lot more than this life. I'm sure you'll love that little kid." She looked down at Phil, "But think about how he's gonna grow up." She said._

" _Just leave." Vanessa shook her head as Jean just nodded._

" _I hope everything works out for you. I really do." Jean said, taking her bag and walking out of the room as Vanessa sunk down in the bed and sighed, looking over at the baby in his bassinet, his adorable little face already giving her so much anxiety._

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	4. Believe What You Hear

**Believe What You Hear**

* * *

" _What did sour face have to say?" JC asked, walking in the door to their house. He'd worked a lot of jobs in order to get them put down for a house, and they moved in just in time. They barely had anything in the house, however._

" _Jean?" Vanessa asked, carrying Phil in his carrier, just getting home from the hospital, "Just the usual." She said, walking into the living room and sitting the carrier down on the couch as JC looked across at her._

" _The usual as in… stay away from me?" JC nodded._

" _Yeah." Vanessa nodded, "She knows you're taking stuff. I don't know how." She said._

" _She's probably spying on me." JC shook his head._

" _Makes it really hard to defend you, you know." Vanessa said, "How do I favour my drug taking boyfriend over my best friend who… who has only ever wanted the best for me?"_

" _That's all I am? Your drug taking boyfriend?" JC said, taking his cap off and putting it on the couch._

" _That's not what I mean. I just… sometimes I understand where she is coming from. The drugs, the booze, everything… it's gotta stop. How can I trust you with Phil if you're high all the time?"_

" _I'd never take anything with him around."_

" _No, you just go out and do it instead?" Vanessa asked._

" _How do you have the energy to fight with me right now?" JC wondered._

" _Jack I don't wanna fight with you. Look at things right now… we have a house which I didn't think would be possible, we have a baby, you have a job, I will… have one soon." She nodded to herself, "We're actually doing ok, so… why would you wanna ruin it with drugs and alcohol?"_

" _I'm not ruining it." JC said, "I get carried away with my buddies when I'm out with them. That's it. I'll never be an addict like you think I will." He said as she just made a face, "She's doing it again. Jean. Getting in your head." JC nodded, "You know I would never hurt you, and I'd never hurt Phil either. Physically or emotionally." He nodded, "Now unless you aren't happy with me, then you just have to ignore Jean."_

" _I am happy with you." Vanessa nodded, "You just… make me nervous sometimes." She said._

" _Well don't be." JC shook his head, "We're proving all those people wrong. Your family. Your friends. They can suck it." He said as she smiled a little._

" _She brought up that night." Vanessa said, watching as JC unstrapped Phil from the carrier and picked him up into his arms._

" _She better quit it or I'll have to talk with her." JC shook his head._

" _She's not built for that sort of thing." Vanessa said, taking a seat on the couch whilst JC held Phil in his arms, "She's had everything handed to her. Her parents are the nicest people ever. She's got a boyfriend who is perfect at everything. She's rich." Vanessa sighed, "She doesn't see that sort of thing. Not that I'm saying we do but… I don't know, we're used to terrible things happening."_

" _I had no choice." JC said, "So she can bring it up all she wants." He shook his head, "Honestly, ignore her. She's gonna go away to college, become a journalist, settle with her cute boyfriend and live happily ever after. She's never had your best interest at heart."_

" _She's been my best friend since I was like… 5. She's like a sister." Vanessa said, "It was always just me and her. We had other friends obviously but… I literally told her everything." Vanessa said, "I don't want to be the girl who chose her boyfriend over her best friend."_

" _You're not. She's the one making you make that choice. You could have both if she wasn't so weird and possessive. If she stops hanging around you because of me, if she thinks she can quote on quote, knock some sense into you to get away from me, then she can go ahead, she just doesn't like where I come from and how doomed it seems we are." JC said._

" _I just think you scare her." Vanessa admitted truthfully._

" _Do I scare you?" JC asked._

" _No." Vanessa scoffed_

" _Well than that's all that matters to me. I couldn't give to shits about her." He shrugged, "Now either you two sort it out or you really just part ways. We've got a family now. She can go off and get her degree and live up in a fancy house and buy expensive champagne. I'd take this little guy and a take-out over that any day." JC nodded, looking down at Phil who was sleeping as Vanessa smiled._

" _He's a sleepy little guy." Vanessa smiled as JC nodded, "I guess I'll talk to her before she leaves for college." She nodded._

" _Should I be worried?" JC asked as Vanessa shook her head with confusion._

" _About what?" Vanessa asked._

" _About that idiot saying something about that night?" JC asked._

" _No. Don't worry." Vanessa said, "She's not that stupid."_

" _Good." JC nodded, "Because it's the last thing we need." He said as Vanessa nodded in agreement, "We should put him in his crib, right?" He asked her._

" _Yeah. You go on. I'll be up in a minute." She told him._

* * *

Punk had just gotten in the door from work when he heard commotion coming from the kitchen. He'd finished early, which normally meant that Keala was ecstatic to see her father. It meant that he could actually have dinner with his family, play with Frankie and see them for a lot longer than he normally would, but he appeared to have entered into a sad atmosphere.

"What's going on?" Punk shook his head, sitting his car keys down and looking over at Keala who was crying whilst AJ sat beside her trying to make her feel better. His first thought was that she wasn't feeling well, but normally she didn't cry, "Why are you crying?" Punk asked her softly, walking over to the table and sitting down. Frankie was no doubt napping upstairs as it was his usual pre-dinner nap time.

Keala just shook her head, not wanting to talk as she cried against her mother's arm as AJ looked at Punk worriedly.

"Alright, what is wrong with her?" Punk asked, starting to panic and worry of course. He'd never saw her so upset before. She wasn't really an emotional kid. Even if she fell and cut her leg open she never really got upset. She'd probably be more angry about ripping her jeans.

"Some kids at school.. said that… said that you were going to die." AJ said, looking over at Punk who just made a face at her.

"What?" Punk shook his head.

"They said you were going to die, daddy." Keala cried, holding her mother's arm and looking over at her father. She had never been more stressed in all her seven years of living, as to hear some kids at school say her father was going to die.

"Hey, look at me." Punk pointed to himself as Keala looked over to her, "I am not going to die. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." He said, "Keala, they're just teasing you, babe. It happens. People make things up to hurt other people."

"But I really believed them and they said they heard it from their mommy's and daddy's." Keala said, "So why would they say that?" She asked as AJ just looked over at Punk with worry.

It was clear that some kids had overheard their parents talking about Keala's dad being on death row. Keala was at an age and in a grade where kids listened into everything and took their own interpretations in of what was being said.

"Ok, first of all. Sometimes some parents can be dumber than kids." Punk told her as Keala looked over at him, leaning her head on her mother's arms.

"So I'm smarter than you?" Keala asked through her tears as Punk just tutted.

"I said some." Punk reminded her as Keala just looked at him, "I am not dying. I am here and I am alive." He waved himself up and down.

"Then why would they said that?" Keala asked sadly.

"Because people can be mean, baby." AJ told her, playing with her hair as Keala looked up at her, "People will say horrible things, even if they're not true, if they want to hurt somebody. And the best thing you can do is ignore it. Daddy's right there and he's not going anywhere." She promised as Keala sighed dramatically, wiping her face of the tears and sitting up a little.

"I really thought they were telling the truth." Keala sighed.

"No, of course it's not true." Punk said, "I am here and I'm not going anywhere." Punk nodded. It broke his heart to see her so upset. He knew she'd obviously find out about him being on death row, but he certainly didn't want it to be any time soon. He didn't even think she understood what death meant, but she was smarter than he thought for the most part.

He watched as she jumped down from the chair and ran around the table, jumping up on top of him and squeezing him, "You can't ever leave." Keala told him, burying her little head into his shoulder as AJ frowned and placed her hand on her heart. She loved her daddy so much and it broke her heart to see her so upset.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere." Punk said, hugging her back and kissing her cheek, "You go on into the living room. I'll be in soon." He told her as she nodded, jumping down from him and running off out of the kitchen as Punk turned to AJ who took a deep breath, "What the hell." Punk shook his head.

"She literally has been crying since I picked her up from school." AJ said, "Why are kids so fucking horrible?" She shook her head.

"More to the point, why are parents talking about me? I'm not a fucking attraction." He shook his head, "So I was on death row, what's the big deal? It was like eight years ago." He sighed with exhaustion. No matter where, no matter when, there were still reminders of his time on death row almost every day. It was hard. Especially when it was upsetting his daughter like this.

"People just like to talk." AJ shrugged, "And kids pick up on things at that age, and they don't think." She said, "Don't worry about it." She shook her head, "I just can't take that little face when she cries."

"It's literally the worst thing ever." Punk shook his head, "She normally just ignores kids from school. She's good like that."

"I know but… maybe she just believed that. She looked frightened actually, not even sad but frightened." She nodded, "Poor thing." She sighed.

"I need to go hug her some more." Punk sighed, standing up from the table, "Hey, by the way. I didn't get a chance to actually say hello." He said, leaning over and kissing her as she kissed back and smiled, "How was court?"

"Quick." AJ nodded, "Got some stuff done at the office too. Your dad said Frankie was a little grumpy today." She said.

"We all have our grumpy days." Punk said, "How is he? My dad?"

"Fine." AJ nodded, "I told him that he needs to introduce us to this new woman. He got all red it was the greatest." She said as Punk laughed a little, "I think he really likes her, Phil. It's sweet."

"I'm not saying it's not good, I'm happy for him if he's happy. I just… well she's my age. It's kinda weird." He nodded.

"Age is just a number." She smirked.

"Yeah, exactly, and their numbers are pretty far apart." He said as AJ just shook her head, "I'm going to Dean's tomorrow night to help him build the crib and get the nursery together. Anna is out with her work friends and he said he wants to surprise her and finish it, so I said I'd help." He said.

"That's nice." AJ smiled, "Is Dean getting nervous?" She laughed a little.

"Well he's smoking again, so that would be a yes." Punk nodded.

"Oh, what?" AJ shook her head with disappointment as she stood up from the table.

"Yeah, I know." Punk said, "He said he just has one or two a day, it helps him." He shrugged, "I keep forgetting that he's never actually had a baby. I just automatically think he has because of CJ." He said.

"Oh, yeah. Of course." AJ realised too, "Oh, he'll be great. He's worrying for nothing. She'll love him."

"Yeah, she'll love her uncle a ton too." Punk nodded proudly as AJ smiled, "Ok, I gotta go love my daughter though." He said frantically as AJ smiled.

"Keep a listen for the kid upstairs. He'll be waking up soon. He's been down for an hour already. I'll start dinner." She said.

"Ok." Punk nodded, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room, taking his jacket off and collapsing down beside Keala who seemed a little more calm and better.

It annoyed him that such a short amount of time he spent on death row had impacted his life so much. It still did.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	5. What Went On

**What Went On**

* * *

"Which part goes next?" Dean asked, sitting on the floor in his unborn daughter's nursery with his brother, trying to assemble some furniture.

"This." Punk said, extending a piece over to him, "Read the instructions. They help." Punk nodded as Dean just grumbled.

"I don't do instructions." Dean said, "They should build it for you, considering how expensive it was." He shook his head.

"Kids are expensive." Punk nodded, "Where is CJ? I thought he was staying with you for a few nights?" He asked.

"He is. He's at his soccer training. Little guy is really good." Dean nodded with a smile, "Paige was working a lot of night shifts so I said I didn't mind taking him for a few nights." He shrugged, "She thinks that I'll want to take him less because of the baby coming."

"She said that?" Punk asked.

"Well, she said it discretely. She just said that it's ok if I don't have time but… I will have time. He's my son. I'd have him with me every day if I could." He admitted truthfully, "I think she's dating someone." Dean said as Punk nodded.

"What makes you think that?" Punk asked, sorting out the screws into their correct piles.

"CJ said there's a guy that always comes around to the house now." Dean shrugged, "And there's a couple of times I've picked CJ up and she's looked ready for a red carpet event." He shook his head.

"Are you annoyed she's dating?" Punk made a face and laughed a little.

"No, of course not. Makes no difference to my life. I just think it must be so hard for CJ. It's like he's got two sets of parents, two families." He sighed.

"Hey, it's not your fault. Tons of families aren't together, and you and Paige still make it work. You both put CJ first and what he needs, and that's a good thing." Punk nodded, "Where did you say Anna was again?" Punk asked him.

"Out with some work friends." Dean said.

"Does she know you're as stressed as you are?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah. We talk about it. She's stressed too." Dean said, "I don't know, I think it's just surreal that it's happening. After two miscarriages, it's like I'm preparing for something to go wrong."

"You can't think that way, though." Punk said, "You know the baby is healthy." He nodded.

"I know that, but it's just on my mind that's all." Dean said, "Where is the mob boss and Keal at?" He asked him.

"They're both with AJ. She got a mistrial on her case so she's got a few days off now. She was taking them out for the day. We had a little incident with Keala last night."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, trying his best to concentrate on screwing the parts up.

"Well, I walk in the door from work and she's crying her eyes out. And Keala ain't a crier. She's like AJ. If she's upset she'll get angry." Punk said, "But she was in tears. Apparently, some kids at school told her that I was gonna die." He shook his head as Dean screwed his face up, "Me and AJ just assumed that other kids overheard their parents talking about me on death row. So I had to look at her little face, and she was fucking devastated. She legitimately thought I was gonna die." He shook his head.

"Man, how does she even know what death is?" Dean said.

"She's seven." Punk shrugged, "I was fucking mad. Like… it's been eight years. Why aren't we getting any peace from that shit? Why are people still talking about it?"

"Well… it's not a thing you hear about every day, is it? A guy getting released from death row." Dean said.

"But it's affecting my kid at school now." Punk said.

"Well that's on the shitty parents and the shitty kids who listen to their parents." Dean said, "Keala will forget they exist. You know she will."

"I know but it sucks." Punk shook his head, looking over to the crib and making a face, "Dean that part is upside down." Punk said as Dean shuffled back a little and looked at it, "Please can I be there when you change your first diaper?" He smirked as Dean just scoffed.

"Uh, I've changed Keala's and Frankie's diapers so… I'll be fine." Dean said.

"Yeah, with how much of Anna's help?" Punk laughed a little, "There's always tutorials you can watch."

"Shut up." Dean shook his head as Punk smiled, "When are we meeting dad's girlfriend properly? I feel like he's waiting on us asking him but… I'm waiting on him asking me."

"I don't know he can decide." Punk waved his hand, "I don't even know if it'll last. If he couldn't make it work with mom, who he apparently loved more than anything, how is he gonna make it with some rehab buddy?" Punk shrugged.

"Don't kick the wind out of his sails." Dean said, "He was an addict with problems when he was with mom. He's clean now, starting to get shit together. We should be happy for him." He said.

"I am." Punk defended as Dean just made a face, "What?"

"You don't seem like you are." Dean said, trying to fix the crib.

"I am I just… I don't know how legit he's being." Punk said.

"If he says he likes her then we believe him. If it all goes to shit then that's his deal." Dean nodded, "Pass me that screw please." He pointed as Punk sank into a crossed leg position and threw him over the screw.

* * *

" _Brooks." A prison guard knocked on Punk's cell door as he sat up from laying on his uncomfortable bed, looking on as the door opened with a guard standing with cuffs ready, "You got a visit."_

" _I do?" Punk made a face. He'd only been in prison a few days. He hadn't heard yet if he was getting the death penalty as he hadn't been out to court, but from his useless lawyer, he knew it looked likely._

" _Yeah." The guard said, putting the cuffs around Punk, "This way." He said, leading Punk out as Punk just followed closely. The past few days had been the worst. Trying to process everything going on. The fact he was being considered for the death penalty. It still hadn't sunk in at all._

" _Wait… where are we going?" Punk wondered after passing the visitation room._

" _Just along here." The guard said quietly as Punk just shook his head._

" _But you said I had a visit." Punk said, his wrists and ankles both cuffed as he walked along the narrow corridor._

" _Yeah, you do." The guard nodded, "In here." He said, opening up a small door around the corner of the corridor as Punk looked in on it, noticing four or five other prison guards and shaking his head. He was no fool. He knew what was going on._

" _C'mon, man." Punk shook his head, "I… I don't want no trouble." He said, feeling the guard push him into the room. Even if he wasn't cuffed, there was no way he was winning a fight with five large prison guards._

" _We don't care what you want." One of them said, "What'd you do to those girls? Huh? You sick bastard." He spat._

" _I didn't do anything. I didn't touch them." Punk said. It was the most frustrating thing ever. It was like no one believed him. No one but his brother._

" _They were just kids. Had their whole lives ahead of them. And you murdered them. I'm sure you did other things to them too." One of them said, surrounding him as he stood in the middle, trying to keep his eyes on them all as Punk just shook his head._

" _I didn't." He shook his head, he didn't know what else he was really supposed to say._

" _Only a guilty man would say that." The guard said, "You might not be in gen pop with the other cons, who let's face it, would kill you, but you're here in seg. And we can be just as shitty." He spat as Punk looked at them, just waiting for the first punch, feeling a kick to his crotch, almost taking the oxygen completely away from him as he felt punch after punch and kick after kick._

* * *

"How'd the mommy day out go?" Punk asked after coming home later that night from Dean's where AJ was crashed on the couch after putting the kids to bed.

"I am… exhausted." AJ shook her head, "But I actually had fun with my little monsters." She nodded as Punk smiled and sat down beside her as she immediately gave him a hug and smiled to herself, "Mmm." She said dreamily, he was the best cushion ever.

"Hi." Punk laughed a little with a smile, kissing her head as she smiled, "Did they behave?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, well Keala did. Frankie got a little grumpy, I think he was just hungry." She said, "How did it go with Dean? Did you get the nursery on the go?" She asked him, sitting back a little and looking up at him.

"Yeah, we got most of the stuff built, and we talked." Punk nodded, "He's just nervous like any normal parent. Think how nervous we were having Keala." He said as AJ nodded.

"It kind of all disappeared when she was here though. I keep telling Dean that." Punk said.

"He'll be fine." She smiled.

"He also told me to stop being so dull on dad. I guess maybe I've not been taking it very seriously." Punk shrugged as AJ just looked up at him, "It's just hard to believe that he's actually interested in something. He claims to have… loved my mom like no one else but… he just threw the whole thing away with her. Including me and Dean."

"He was an addict back then. That's what happens. They lose their families. They lose themselves." AJ said, "He's got the help now and he's… well it's like he's moving on, and we should be happy about that. It doesn't mean that he loves her more than he loved your mom. You can tell he regrets everything, so…making him feel worse about that won't make you feel better. You know that." She said, placing her hand on his chest as he nodded.

"Yeah, I know." Punk nodded, "Maybe we should arrange something. Dinner here. Invite her." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, I think he would appreciate that more than anything else." AJ said, "You cook, though." She said quickly.

"Oh, what?" Punk looked down at her sadly, "How about a team effort?"

"A team of two?" AJ laughed.

"The only team I know." Punk said as she smiled, looking up at him and pressing her lips against his softly, cupping his hand on her cheek and melting into the kiss.

She swung a leg around him so she could sit on him, straddling his hips, cupping both his cheeks and deepening the kiss as he held her around the waist.

She pulled back and smirked, lifting her t-shirt up as he watched. The bra came next before she pressed her lips back against his, feeling his hands roam up her body, cupping her breasts as she moaned softly into the kiss.

He held onto her tightly and leant her down on the couch, hovering over her and taking his own t-shirt off as she touched his face softly, watching as he kissed down her body, cupping her breasts the entire time as he kissed down to the beginning of her jeans.

She smiled as she felt him undo her jeans and pull them down with her panties, watching as his head disappeared between her legs as she rolled her head back and placed her hand on his head. The feeling of his warm, wet tongue against such a sensitive area was the best feeling in the world, and he knew her body just as much as she knew it, and he knew exactly what she loved.

"Phil." She gasped, "Oh, right there." She moaned, her face scrunching up as she felt him use her whole mouth on her, then just his tongue as it flicked up against her clit, only to retreat and use his full mouth again. He still made her hot with anticipation, no matter how long they'd been in a relationship. The feeling never went away.

He continued to use his mouth on her, clutching her around her legs, not taking a breath until he heard her lose it above him. He smirked when he saw her arch her back and moan out, gasping for air as he smiled, taking the sight in for his own personal pleasure.

He kissed back up her body after watching her body calm down a little, smiling as he pressed his lips against her mouth, letting her taste herself as she kissed back deeply and then looked at him with a smile.

"You have no idea how much I want you inside me." AJ shook her head, biting her lip and looking up at him as he smirked and nodded.

He sat back and undone his jeans, shimmying them down with his boxers, sitting on the couch as she got up and climbed back over him, straddling his hips again, this time finding his length and sinking down on him.

"Fuck." Punk groaned quietly, looking down at his length disappeared inside her, looking up at her as she shut her eyes and cupped her breasts.

"Fuck, baby." AJ moaned, placing her hands around his neck and beginning to move her hips up and down on him. She then watched him lean forward, kissing her neck and down her throat as she tilted her head back for him, still moving up and down, the sound of skin slapping skin filling the room as she felt him continuously throb inside her.

"You feel so fucking good." Punk shook his head as AJ smiled, continuing to move up and down on him, occasionally stopping so he would thrust up into her which would take her breath away at times.

She didn't think it was possible to fall more and more in love with him every day but she was. She still saw him as that cute blonde teenager she fell in love with, and she knew everything about him. It was honest and it was real, and it was completely irreplaceable.

She knew so much that sometimes, when she caressed her neck, moving up and down on him, she looked at the scarring from his ear down to his shoulder, and felt a massive pain in her heart.


	6. Good Dad

**Good Dad**

* * *

" _Why does he have to cry so fucking much?" JC asked, lying in bed, looking at his girlfriend, wondering with each other who was going to get up first to get the few week old baby._

" _He's a baby." Vanessa said, placing her hand on her forehead._

" _Yeah and I'm pretty sure they're not meant to cry as much as this." JC said, "I have a hangover which does not help." He shook his head._

" _Shouldn't have been out drinking last night then." Vanessa remarked as JC just nodded in agreement. They still continued to lie in bed and wait on the other to get up and get Phil. Vanessa was tired since most often than not, it was her who ended up having to deal with it. She felt pretty alone and it was hurting her a bit, "Get him." She told him, "Go change him. Feed him. Spend some time with him." She said, turning around in bed as JC looked at her, "I'm not asking anymore." She said tiredly, "Do it." She told him as JC just watched her. She looked serious and terrifying._

" _Ok." JC said, sitting up from the bed. They're house still had pretty much nothing in it. Anytime JC got money from different jobs he worked, they'd put it to getting things for Phil, meaning that the only room that looked nice was the nursery. Vanessa was itching to find work but she was still post-partum and clearly very tired._

" _I'm visiting Jean today before she leaves for college. She wants to talk and I'd really like it if I could go without Phil. I know you're not working." She said._

" _Ok, sure." JC nodded, "At least the bitch is finally leaving. It'll give us some peace." He shook his head as Vanessa just watched him leave the room and head off to go tend to Phil._

* * *

"Watch this." JC said, crouching down on the living room floor in AJ and Punk's house where Frankie was sitting playing with his toys, watching his grandfather as he pretended to push him as Frankie pushed him back, causing Punk to laugh and AJ to fold her arms and look at him sternly, "This is good. This is good." JC nodded, "Little man got a defence strategy already."

"May I remind you both." AJ said, "He is one. He can't say a word yet. Don't teach him how to hit people." She said.

"It's funny." Punk shrugged.

"Will it be funny when he turns into an angry little guy and starts beating us?" AJ asked.

"Stop." Punk scoffed.

"It's just playing." JC said, not wanting AJ to be mad with him, "I did it with Phil and Dean."

"And look how they turned out." AJ teased as Punk gasped dramatically.

"You woke up wrong today." Punk told her as AJ just made a face.

"Time of the month?" JC sniggered as AJ just shook her head.

"You know assuming that just because I'm mad means that I'm on my period is a class dick mood which we don't tolerate in this house." She said as Punk nodded along with her, he knew the rules, "I just don't want my son being taught how to hit people. Teach him how to cuddle and be nice." She smiled.

"No one gets through life cuddling." JC scoffed, standing up straight as Frankie turned back around and began to play with his blocks some more.

"So when are we meeting your new girlfriend then?" AJ asked.

"Oh, I don't know." JC laughed a little, going red as Punk and AJ both looked on with slight smiled, "I don't know if she's my girlfriend or anything."

"Well you've been seeing her for a few months." Punk said, "Unless it's just a friends with benefits type deal." He smirked.

"No, not at all." JC said, "Well maybe she is my girlfriend. I don't know." JC said as AJ and Punk just smiled and nodded.

"Why don't you bring her over for dinner?" AJ asked him as JC just scratched the back of his neck and looked at them both, "If you want, that is."

"Ok, but don't… don't frighten her." JC said.

"Frighten her?" Punk laughed, "What do you think I'm gonna do?" He laughed a little.

"I don't know, tell her how shitty a father I was." JC shrugged as Punk just shook his head.

"I'm not gonna say shit. I just wanna meet her. So does Dean. Properly." Punk said as JC nodded.

"Alright, ok." JC nodded, "When and where?" He asked.

"I guess we could actually go out." AJ nodded, turning to Punk, "Means we don't have to cook." She said as Punk nodded, more interested in that idea than anything else.

"If we go to anywhere but Gino's then Keala probably won't come." Punk nodded.

"Yeah, that's true." AJ agreed.

"Alright, well just set a time and a day and we'll be there." JC nodded.

"How about tomorrow? 7pm?" AJ asked, "I'm sure Dean and Anna will be free too." She said.

"Sounds fine." JC nodded, "As long as you are all on your best behaviour." He said as Frankie yelled from over on the carpet playing with his toys, "Yes, that means you especially." JC nodded to him as the one year old laughed, crawling over to more of his toys to sit and play with them as AJ and Punk smiled.

* * *

 _Vanessa walked into the coffee shop that wasn't far from their house, walking on over to the little booth where she spotted Jean sitting. She tried her best to look better than what she felt, but she knew it was probably shown. She'd been assessed by the home visitor and they told her that post-partum depression was normal, especially when she was so young and so new to being a mom._

 _She took a seat, noticing her coffee had already been ordered as Jean looked across at her._

" _Afternoon." Jean said, having been waiting a while for her._

" _Sorry I'm late." Vanessa said, "Phil… was being difficult." She shook her head._

" _Where is he? I thought you would have brought him." Jean said, stirring her coffee around with her spoon._

" _He's with JC." Vanessa said, "And don't give me that look. He knows how to take care of him."_

" _I didn't say anything." Jean put her hands up in defence, "How is he?"_

" _Who?" Vanessa asked._

" _Phil. I'd never ask you how JC was." Jean scoffed as Vanessa just nodded._

" _Phil is fine. He… likes to cry but… he's fine." She nodded, "I thought we could just meet here before you go away to college. Clearly we have different paths now. Was it my intention to be a mom this early? No. But I love my son and I won't have people like you look down on me for having him." She said, "I wish you the best in what you want to do with your life. And it's unfortunate what happened with us. Especially that night." She said as Jean just rolled her eyes and turned away from her, "But I never picked him over you. You were the one who couldn't be around me anymore."_

" _Because he is a drug addict, Vanessa. He's messed up." Jean said._

" _You don't know him." Vanessa said, "You've never once had a normal conversation with him. You've never gave him a chance. He's good. He's kind, sweet, funny." Vanessa nodded._

" _And he's also a drug addict." Jean nodded, "And probably an alcoholic. And probably will cheat on you. And probably will abandon Phil before he can even walk." She said as Vanessa just shook her head, "Vanessa I'm not saying any of this to hurt you. You're… you've been like a sister to me since were kids. I'm just trying to be there for you."_

" _By hurting my feelings?" Vanessa asked, "He's just misunderstood. Brought up wrong, yeah, but he's a good person."_

" _That night, he was not a good person. He terrified me." Jean whispered._

" _He helped us. He helped me." Vanessa said._

" _We should have called the police." Jean shook her head, "And now we can't, and that stays with us forever. The three of us." She nodded._

" _We move on, Jean." Vanessa said angrily, "I know that… that night was probably the scariest night of your life. It was scary for me too, I was… 5 months pregnant. I got scared, ok? So I called… the only person that I trust, and that is him. He helped us and now we move on. Ok? I don't want to be worrying my whole life about you and wondering if you're gonna slip up-"_

" _I'm not that stupid." Jean hissed._

" _Good. I know you're not." Vanessa said, "If this is how it has to be, us… going our separate ways, then so be it, but it is not my fault that you can't be happy for me-"_

" _Vanessa, I don't think you're happy for you." Jean said, "You wanted to be a nurse. You didn't even look at boys. What is he manipulating you with?"_

" _Nothing." Vanessa scoffed, "I love him. Is that so hard to believe? Yes, I love a drug addict. Big deal. People do drugs." She said, "I can still be a nurse. I can… go to nursing school. Just because I have a baby doesn't mean I can't do anything." She shook her head as Jean just nodded._

" _I hope you do. And you know, I hope it does work out, because I still care about your happiness. But I don't care enough to do this anymore." She said, "So you're right, we go our separate ways, I live my life, you live yours. And that's it." Jean said as Vanessa just nodded, looking across at her, "And I hope for your sake that he turns out to be the man you think he is. Because right now, he's not that man. He's a boy, who found you hot, who got you pregnant and who probably feels trapped now."_

" _You don't know anything about him." Vanessa gritted her teeth._

" _No. But I know everything about you. And you deserve so much better." Jean said, "You didn't ruin this. I didn't. He did." She said, standing up and putting her bag over her shoulder, "I have to go." She said as Vanessa just nodded briefly and watched as she walked by her, leaving the coffee shop as she clasped her hands over her mouth and sighed._

* * *

"These are the coolest pyjamas. I wish I had these pyjamas." Punk said, standing by the changing table in Frankie's room where he was putting him in a clean diaper and in his pyjamas before he put him down to sleep.

"I can buy you pyjamas like that if you want." AJ smiled, folding up some of Frankie's little clothes into the appropriate drawers. The pyjamas were of course Star Wars themed with different characters like Chewbacca and R2-D2 on it. Punk was incredibly jealous of them.

"Would you judge me if I wore them?" Punk asked her, pulling up Frankie's pyjama bottoms as the one year old lay tiredly making soft noises and kicking his legs a little.

"I already judge you for your weird Star Wars fetish." AJ scoffed, "Pyjamas won't make a difference." She said as Punk just smiled.

"My wife." Punk smiled to her as she just winked, "Do you think my dad is nervous about dinner tomorrow?" He asked, lifting up Frankie from the table and walking over to the crib where he lay him down in, stroking his little cheek as he looked at his tired eyes.

"Well he's probably a little nervous. But I think that's a good thing because it means he actually does care. He cares about your opinions and clearly he cares about what she'll think." AJ said, closing the drawers over, "Just promise me that you and your brother will be on your best behaviour." She said, walking over to him and tugging on his hand before looking down at Frankie with a smile.

"I'm always on my best behaviour." Punk gasped dramatically.

"Are you?" AJ hummed.

"I am." Punk said, "I'm not gonna say anything bad to her." He laughed a little, "I can't speak for Dean, but I can see my dad likes her. I wouldn't want to hurt his feelings… or hers." He shrugged.

"Good." AJ smiled, leaning up and kissing his cheek, giving him a warm cuddle as he squeezed her back, both of them watching as Frankie fell asleep right away. Punk tucked the cover over him a little and smiled.

"He's getting so big. Did you see him at the couch today? He was walking along it? He's gonna be off on his own soon, I'm telling you." Punk smiled.

"I know I can't believe it. I want him to stay my baby forever." She frowned.

"I know." Punk nodded, kissing her head.

"Excuse me." Keala said, walking into her brother's room as her parents turned around where she was standing in her own pyjamas with her arms folded, her glasses on and her hair all over her face.

"What?" Punk laughed a little.

"Do I get tucked in now?" She asked them impatiently as AJ and Punk smiled.

"Ok, ma'am. Let's go." Punk smiled, walking over to her and lifting her up over his shoulder as Keala giggled, causing AJ to smile. He really was the best father. She would have fought anyone who said otherwise.

* * *

" _JC?" Vanessa said quietly, walking into the house after her short coffee date with Jean, kicking her shoes off at the door tiredly, "Jack?" Vanessa announced quietly, walking down the hall and into the living room, pausing as she saw her boyfriend passed out on the couch with a few empty bottles of spirits around him._

 _She immediately abandoned the living room and ran for the stairs, quickly sprinting around the bend, bursting into the nursery and over to the crib, her heart about to leap out of her mouth, finally taking a deep breath when she saw her baby son sleeping peacefully in his crib._

 _She placed her hand on her chest and took multiple deep breaths, "Hi, baby." Vanessa whispered desperately, reaching her hand down and stroking his face softly._

 _And then the rage began to take over._

 _She left the nursery quietly after seeing her son was safe and in good health, and then she ran back downstairs and into the living room, looking at JC fast asleep on the couch, the ash tray beside him full and the empty bottles sitting around him on the floor._

" _Wake up!" Vanessa yelled, slapping his head as JC blinked awake immediately, looking around to find his bearings, screwing his eyes up as Vanessa stood above him with folded arms._

" _Y-You're back." JC smiled._

" _And you're high." Vanessa spat, "You stupid idiot." She hissed, desperately wanting to attack, but she wasn't a person who tolerated violence._

" _What?" JC shook his head, sitting up a little straighter._

" _Phil is upstairs and you… you've just passed out, drunk, high… anything could have happened to him." Vanessa said, "I can't even trust you with him for a few hours?" Vanessa shook her head._

" _No… no he was fine. I done his diaper and fed him and he went to sleep so I just had a… just a few drinks."_

" _No, you had a lot of drinks." Vanessa spat, "Look at me." She pointed to her face as JC looked at her, "You get your shit together. There is no way that Phil is gonna grow up with you being nothing but a useless drunk-"_

" _Excuse me." JC shook his head._

" _No, you're gonna hear this." Vanessa said, "We're making this work. We're gonna make it work for us and for him. If I didn't love you I wouldn't care this much. I would have stayed with my mom. I would have told you to stay away from me. But I love you, and I see what other people can't see with you." She said as JC gulped, "So you better get your shit together. For me and for Phil." She said, "The past is the past. Jean is gone. We can start concentrating on us and our family. We can have something good. Something we didn't have as kids." She said as JC looked at her._

" _Ness, I'm sorry… I just had a few-"_

" _Well quit it." Vanessa spat, "I walk if you keep this shit up. And I take Phil with me." She said, "Stop being that guy that you think society is making you out to be. You're more than that. I don't think anyone's ever told you that, but you are. You're not destined for drink and drugs. We can have a family here. I want a family here." She said._

" _I do too." JC nodded._

" _Then this has to stop." Vanessa said, "I'm not letting that little boy down. And I'm not letting you let him down either. We move on and we focus on us now, ok? I don't care how young we are. We can do it." She nodded positively as he smiled. He always loved her ability to tackle any sort of challenge head first._

" _Jean must have annoyed you today." JC cringed a little._

" _No. She just proved to me that she's like everyone else." Vanessa said, "Clean this shit up." She told him, still pissed with his lack of concentration towards looking after their son, "Don't make me ban you from drinking in the house." She shook her head, "It smells like a fucking brewery." She said, kicking his foot on the way by as JC smiled a little. Her feistiness was the first thing he noticed about her._

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	7. Dinner Disaster

**Dinner Disaster**

* * *

"Would anyone judge me if I got two pizzas?" Anna asked, sitting at the table in Gino's as she studied the menu, even though they knew the place well enough to where they all got the same thing every time.

"If you're allowed to get two, I want two." Dean said as Anna just smiled.

"Can I get two?" CJ asked, sitting beside Dean who just chuckled a little.

"No one is getting two pizzas." AJ laughed a little. They were just waiting on JC and Lydia arriving, and Punk was getting nervous at the thought of them not showing up.

"Do you think he'll eat some pizza?" Punk asked AJ, looking on at Frankie who was sat in a high chair at the edge of the table where he and AJ were sat with Keala.

"He might eat a little bit." AJ nodded, keeping her eyes on the door as she watched people walk in and out of it.

"I know what I want." Keala said, resting her elbow on the table and her head on her hand, "And Gino knows what I want because it's what I always have." She said.

"You still gotta tell him. He might not even be here." Punk nodded to her.

"Why wouldn't he be here? Is this not his house?" Keala asked her parents with confusion as Punk and AJ stared at her.

"This is a restaurant." Punk shook his head as Dean looked over and raised a brow at Keala.

"I thought he lived with all the pizzas. He loves pizza." Keala said as Dean chuckled to himself.

"No, he goes home to his house." Punk laughed a little.

"Well he better be here." Keala huffed dramatically, starting to look around the restaurant for her friend, Gino.

AJ then noticed as JC walked in the door, followed by a blonde woman, who really did look as young as she was. She tapped Punk under the table as he looked up and turned around. She was the only one who hadn't been introduced to Lydia. Everyone had met her briefly.

"You made it." Dean scoffed as JC nodded, eventually introducing Lydia to everyone properly as she smiled politely.

Once everyone was sat down they ordered food and the conversation flowed, not before AJ tapped Punk on the foot again as he discretely looked across at her.

"She's gorgeous." AJ mouthed. Not that she was surprised, but she just wasn't expecting such an immaculate woman. Then again, she remembered how pretty their mother was.

Punk just shrugged, feeling it wrong to agree that his father's new girlfriend was pretty, especially to his wife of all people, but she was a good looking woman, he wasn't blind.

"So who is older?" Lydia asked, taking a sip of water from the jug which they'd got for the table, "I know you're brothers but… who came first?" She smiled, looking from Dean to Punk.

"Who do you think?" Dean asked her as Lydia looked at them both.

"You?" Lydia asked Dean as Punk smiled.

"You've made my night." Punk nodded.

"You think I look older?" Dean laughed.

"You're older?" Lydia asked Punk who nodded.

"Yeah, by a year a few months." JC scoffed, "Both one brain cell between them." He shook his head as Lydia smiled.

"You look a lot like him." She nodded from Punk to JC, "You… not so much." She shook her head at Dean.

"I look like my mom." Dean nodded.

"I see." Lydia smiled.

"So where do you work?" Punk asked her.

"In the pharmacy just across the street." Lydia said, "Now it makes sense why I had to go to rehab for drug addicts, right?" She smiled to them as they looked at her, "It's fine, I don't get weird about it." She said.

"So what was it, pain killers or something?" Dean asked.

"Dean." Anna scolded.

"What?" Dean shrugged, "She said she's not weird about it." He said as Lydia smiled.

"Morphine, actually." Lydia nodded, "The fact I never lost my job is beyond me." She said, "But I think the moral of the story is, I got better." She shrugged.

"Cheers to that." Punk smiled, raising his water and taking a drink.

"Who is that?" Keala whispered to her mother as AJ looked down.

"JC's friend." AJ told her quietly as Keala nodded and turned back around to look at her.

* * *

The night went on and the conversation flowed through the table nicely. They enjoyed some good conversation with good pizza. Frankie got stuck into some of Punk's pizza which he enjoyed a great deal. They were getting to know Lydia and Lydia was getting to know them which was nice for both parties. JC was glad they had decided to go now.

"So… how long have you been in their lives then?" Lydia asked JC as Punk and Dean turned to look over.

"About two years almost." JC said as Lydia nodded slowly.

"What… what happened in between?" She asked them all whilst Anna awkwardly glanced at AJ who just looked down at her pizza and began to cut Keala's up for her some more.

"He was there in the beginning." Dean said, "For like… a few years." He said, "When'd he leave?" Dean asked Punk.

"I don't know, I was like 8 maybe." Punk shrugged as JC, took his cap off to run his hand through his hair and place it back on his head.

"Why'd you wait so long to get help then?" Lydia asked. She wasn't angry, she was asking in a general tone.

"I don't know it was different back then." JC said.

"You had more going for you, though." Lydia said, "Did you guys have a step-father or something?"

"No." Punk shook his head, "Just a mom. A great one." He said as she nodded.

"What happened to her?" Lydia asked as Dean and Punk looked up, but instead looking at her, they both looked at JC. They assumed he would have told her by now.

"She was in a car accident." Punk said, "She was brain stone dead at the scene so we… turned the machines off." He said as Lydia frowned.

"Where were you?" Lydia asked JC.

"Prison." Dean answered for him.

"Yeah, prison for covering for your asses." JC looked at them both, "Idiots walking around the street with thousands worth of drugs." He said.

"They weren't ours." Dean scoffed.

"Wait… where did you both go then? After your mother died?" She asked them.

"We went into the system." Punk said whilst AJ just stayed quiet as did Anna.

"We had a different home every week it seemed." Dean said, "Most of which we weren't wanted. Phil was in and out of juvie so every time he went, we got placed in a new home."

"And when you got out of prison… you… you helped them, right?" Lydia wondered as JC just looked across at her. This was what he had feared about the night.

"No. I… I didn't." JC said, "They were… tough boys, they didn't need me." He said as Lydia just shook her head.

"I'm sure they did." Lydia said.

"We got by." Punk nodded, "When I got a job, we ended up getting a place. We… got by just fine. So… yeah, we probably could have done with our dad being around but to be honest, at that time, I was a very anti-dad guy. In fact, eighteen year old me would be extremely disappointed in myself right now, but… I understand that we have problems, we can get lost, and maybe it was best we were on our own." Punk nodded as the table just fell silent for a little while.

"Is… anyone having dessert?" Anna asked them, looking at the dessert menu as Dean smiled to her whilst Punk looked across to AJ who just made wide eyes and looked down.

"I'll have dessert. I'll have the banana split." Keala told Anna who nodded and smiled.

"You go girl." Anna smiled, extended her hand over Dean as Keala gave her a high five.

"Remember the guy in our school they used to call banana split? He was in our year." Dean nodded from AJ and Anna.

"I remember him." Punk nodded, "He had like the biggest feet ever. Like he'd trip up over them." He said.

"Oh, you… you all went to the same school?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah you were probably in our year." Dean said as Anna elbowed him on the side.

"I grew up in Milwaukee so… that wouldn't be possible." She smiled politely.

"Yeah, me, Anna and AJ were all the same year. Brooks over there was the year above." Dean said.

"So you all dated in high school?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, we did." Punk nodded.

"We didn't." Anna said, "I was mean to them." She said honestly.

"She was." Punk agreed, "She called me spaghetti hair since I was 14." Punk said.

"She made a rumour up that I had a penis." AJ added in.

"She said I was on drugs." Dean said, "Which if you count weed as drugs, I was but… not the point." He said.

"My parents loved me too well." Anna smiled to her sarcastically.

"So how did you two… get together then?" Lydia laughed a little.

"Oh, it's a long story." Dean said tiredly, "Too long. We just met a reunion and we've been together ever since, with hurdles of course." He said as Anna nodded along.

"That's nice." Lydia smiled.

"Excuse me a minute." JC said, standing up from the table and walking on by as he headed for the door. Punk watched and saw him standing outside the restaurant for some fresh air as he turned back to Dean. They were only telling Lydia the truth. They figured that she would have already known those things.

"Is all of this stuff new to you?" Punk asked her.

"He… doesn't really open up about much. I pretty much just knew that he had two sons." Lydia shrugged, "And you know what, I don't blame him, because he's probably been alone for quite some time but… he just doesn't seem comfortable with talking."

"Doesn't he talk at the groups?" Dean asked.

"He talks about his addictions, yeah. But nothing about either of you, or his life, his upbringing. And I don't want to force that out of him either." She said, "I know I'm just a few years older than you both, and that might be weird for you but… he's a really good guy." She said.

"Hey, there's no problem here." Punk made clear, "He's just a bit of a closed book, that's all." He said.

"Yeah." Lydia nodded, "You guys go ahead and order desserts. I'm gonna go talk to him." She said, excusing herself from the table and walking on out of the restaurant to talk to JC.

"She's sweet." Anna said, "And you two are extremely blunt." She looked from Dean to Punk.

"Blunt meaning honest?" Dean asked her, "How'd we know that he's not told her anything about his life?" He shook his head.

"You did both sound a little mad at him." AJ said, sitting playing with Keala's hair whilst she coloured in with the little book pack Gino had given her.

"I'm not mad." Punk said, "I was just saying the truth. He should have told her at this point. They've been seeing each other for weeks now."

"Yeah and he clearly has some opening up issues, which probably prevented him from being a father to you both in the first place." AJ said.

"No, he was just lazy and didn't care." Punk said.

"That isn't fair. You know he cares." AJ said.

"Why are you always team dad on everything?" Punk asked her as Dean and Anna just stayed silent.

"I'm not, I just-"

"No, you are." Punk said, "Everything I say about him you have a counter argument for it right away sticking up for him. He's not your dad. He didn't leave you. Alright? Let us be mad if we wanna be mad." He told her, pissed as AJ scowled at him. She didn't appreciate being shouted at ever, but in public with Anna and Dean watching too. She was pissed.

"Go fuck yourself." AJ muttered under her breath, throwing her napkin down and walking away from the table as Punk watched and groaned to himself whilst Dean and Anna stared at him.

"Why is everyone leaving the table?" CJ asked quietly as Dean looked across at him, "Are we not having dessert?" He frowned.

"What?" Keala gasped, "We have to."

"We are. It's fine." Anna assured them.

Meanwhile AJ had walked out of the restaurant, in no mood to sit and look at her husband's face anymore as she walked out of the restaurant.

"Hey." AJ approached Lydia and JC who were talking quietly outside the restaurant on the sidewalk, "I am… gonna go home, so… it was lovely to meet you." She smiled, embracing Lydia who just went along with it.

"Why are you going?" JC asked.

"Your son is this close to getting a jug of water over him so… it's best I leave." She nodded.

"Which son?" JC laughed a little.

"The one I have children with." AJ said, "The other one isn't far off it, I suppose." She nodded, "Sorry to leave so soon." She said.

"That's ok. It was lovely to meet you." Lydia smiled politely.

"I'm sorry on behalf of Phil and Dean for being so blunt about some things. Things you clearly didn't know about. It's nothing you did." AJ nodded.

"I think it's all just been a misunderstanding." Lydia said.

"Are you really gonna go?" JC asked her.

"Yeah. I've… been in court all week and Phil is in a weird mood." She said as they both nodded.

"I don't think you should walk home on your own." JC said.

"I'll be fine." AJ smiled.

"No." Lydia said, "JC will walk you home. It's only five minutes away, right?" She said.

"Yeah." AJ nodded, "I really don't need-"

"No, it's fine." JC said, "You go on in." He told Lydia, "I won't be long." He said as AJ just smiled and nodded, allowing him to walk her home.

Lydia returned back to the table where Dean and Anna were now sharing a dessert and Keala and CJ were also having theirs.

"Where is dad?" Dean asked.

"He's walking AJ home." Lydia said as Punk turned to her.

"She's actually gone home?" Punk asked. He assumed she'd just gone outside for some fresh air.

"Yeah, you are… not in her good books." Lydia said as Punk just rolled his eyes and sighed.


	8. Past Is The Past

**Past Is The Past**

* * *

"So what did he say that upset you so much?" JC asked, walking AJ home, more so to help his conscience than anything else. He knew Chicago's streets better than anyone.

"Nothing terrible." AJ admitted, "He thinks that because I'm not in his shoes that I don't get to have an opinion on things." She said, "And he's just like you. He doesn't talk about anything. I mean… he'll talk about things but he'll never really open up." She said.

"So this has nothing to do with anything he said tonight?" JC asked.

"Well yeah, he pissed me off tonight but… when I get pissed at him I start thinking about all the other things that is wrong with our relationship." She said.

"April, take it from me, there's nothing wrong with your relationship." JC said, "Couples do fight. It'd be incredibly weird if you didn't." He said.

"I know that." AJ said, "I just…" She shook her head and turned away to hide her tears as JC looked down.

"Hey, what is wrong?" JC asked as she just shook her head and wiped her eyes quickly.

"April, c'mon. What's going on?" He asked.

"Nothing." AJ shook her head tearfully as they got outside the house.

"You wouldn't be upset over nothing. What's happened?" He asked.

"I just… I can't imagine how he feels every day." She shook her head, facing him outside the house as she dried her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" JC asked.

"Death row." AJ said, "Sometimes I just think about what it would feel like to be told that in a few weeks… someone is gonna kill me." She said as JC sighed, "And what they did to him in there. What they thought he did, and how they treated him. He has to live with that."

"I think he would rather live with that, than not live at all, don't you think?" JC asked her, "Why are you getting so upset over this? It's not like you."

"I just… I feel like it's something that hurts him more than he ever lets onto. The other day Keala came home from school and said that kids were saying that her dad was going to die. People still talk about it. People still stare." AJ said, "And I can't imagine how that is for him."

"Look, April… I may not know my son as much as I should, but I know him enough to know that people staring and talking about him, will not bother him. He's pretty annoying like that. He can let things go over his head. You getting upset right now, that's not something he would ignore. What is it you're afraid of? Is he… is he showing signs of something?"

"No, it's nothing traumatic, I just… think about it. And then him saying that you're not my dad. You didn't leave me… it's like he's rubbing it in my face that I don't have a dad." She folded her arms, "Which never bothered me, but he's just-"

"He's just… been through a lot." JC finished for him, "You're right. I can't imagine how awful it was for him to be in prison, waiting to die. It's unimaginable and I get that you're worried that he's still suffering, but look what he has here. He's got two kids he loves, a good job, he has you… I don't need to list the reasons why having you benefits him… a lot." He said, "We can go through rough patches. We all do. That's normal."

"I just don't want to bring it up because I don't want him to have to go back there but… I don't want him to hold it all in either." She sighed.

"He's tough as nails." JC said, "And I'm sure if you brought up your concerns to him he would listen and he'd talk." He said, "Maybe the reason he snapped at you is because he's just not feeling like himself. It happens. But it's best you question it instead of ignoring it. It shows you care." He nodded, "You can't constantly think about the past. You should be looking forward to the future, and living in the present." He said.

"I know. I know I'm just being stupid." AJ told him.

"No, you're not." JC said, "You just care. You're right. He went through a lot, and considering how much you care about him and love him, that must have been hard for you, whether you were married at the time or not. Seeing someone you love and care about in a situation like that can't be easy. So yeah, it's normal that it creeps up on you every now and then, and I'm sure it does the same with Phil. It's important you talk about it." JC nodded.

"Thank you." AJ nodded, she appreciated him taking the time to talk to her. He was the closest thing she really had to a dad, or even just a parent as a matter of fact, and even though it might not have been much to Phil, it meant a lot to her that he took the time to talk to her, especially when she did have worries and stresses.

"You don't need to thank me. You're my daughter-in-law. Family." JC nodded, "Go on in and put your feet up. When Phil gets home just talk to him, tell him how you feel. He's a lot of things but one of them is understanding." He said, "We all have bad days. Trust me, I've had more bad than good." He said as she nodded, "On you go." He nudged her as she just smiled and nodded, walking down the path and into the house.

* * *

Punk got home later on after leaving the restaurant. He felt bad as he never intended to snap or hurt his wife's feelings, especially when she wasn't trying to hurt his. He never thought she would have actually left, otherwise he would have went after her, but by the time he noticed she was gone he figured there was no point in rushing after.

He eventually left with Frankie in his stroller, fast asleep, and Keala walking beside him. They stopped into the bakery to buy a cupcake for AJ and then headed home.

When he got in, he didn't bother looking for his wife right away, instead he took the kids to bed. It was already way past Keala's bed time, and Frankie was already sleep, it was just a matter of lifting him into his crib.

Once he got them both in bed, it not taking long to get Keala down, he then headed back downstairs, taking the box with the cupcake in it and walking through to the kitchen where he saw AJ sitting at the table with a cup of coffee.

"Hey." Punk nodded.

"Hey." AJ smiled lightly.

"Cupcake?" He asked her, placing the box down as she smiled to him, "Apology cupcake." He said, taking a seat at the table across from her as she smiled and opened up the box to see the vanilla cupcake with strawberries on top. He knew it was her favourite.

"You don't have to apologise." AJ said to him.

"I do." Punk said, "I shouldn't have snapped. You were just telling me how me and Dean were behaving. I upset you and I didn't mean to." He said.

"No, I just overreacted." AJ said, "I just… sometimes I just get… I just think about what you have to go through, what you have to live with… when Keala came home and she was crying about… being told you were gonna die." She shook her head as Punk looked across at her, "It just… I don't know, it gets to me." She said.

"Why?" Punk asked her.

"Just… thinking about what you had to go through. Just sitting and waiting to die. I just… I think about it every now and then I just… I can't imagine how it felt and it just gets to me. I know it's stupid and it's in the past, and of course we all have bad days and we think about all the stuff that went wrong and all the what if's… but… I don't know." She shook her head.

"April, look at me." He said as she looked across at him, "I'm fine. Yeah, some days I think about it more than others, and some days I do think, man what if… what if I did die. Of course I think about it." He said, "But then I see my gorgeous wife, and my kids, and I think… why am I thinking about the past like that?" He said, "I can see it in your eyes when you look at that scar on my shoulder. I know it hurts you, and I wish it didn't." He nodded, "But it's not preventing me from living my life… in fact, it's all the more reason I should be living my life to the fullest." He nodded.

"I know I just think about it and it… it just makes me anxious and scared. Being back there again, thinking I lost you." She shook her head and sighed, "And when we fight I just… I get mad and I think about it even more." She said.

"Well don't." Punk said, "Tonight was… different. It's hard to sell my dad off as this amazing guy when… me and Dean still barely know him. We're still getting to know each other. It was wrong of me to snap at you. And I'm sorry." He nodded.

"It's ok." AJ said, "I just worry that you still suffer. That you still think about prison and what happened." She said.

"Sometimes I do. Sometimes I get the odd nightmare about it. Or I have a day where I just can't get it from my mind, but I know it's always gonna be there and… I've accepted that. It makes me more grateful for the life I have now." He said, "We get bad days. And working long shifts, not seeing you as much as I'd like to… it doesn't help my mood." He said as she smiled, "If you're ever worried about me, you can always talk to me."

"I know I just… sometimes I don't want to bring it up." AJ said.

"You can talk to me about anything, and you know that." Punk said as she nodded, "Come here." He nodded as she stood up from the chair and walked over to him, sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck as he smiled to her, "You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine." He promised her, "And if I wasn't, you'd be the first person I'd go to." He said as she nodded.

"I just worry." AJ whispered.

"I know you do. I wish you didn't." Punk said, "It's always gonna be in our past but… I'm not focused on our past. I'm focused on now, those two cute kids we got, us, our life here." He nodded, "The past… it's in the past." He nodded as she smiled.

"Yeah." She said, "I just love you and I don't want you to ever suffer in silence." She said, touching his face, cupping his cheek.

"I won't." Punk promised her, "I love you." He said as she smiled.

"Do you want a bit of my cupcake?" She asked, leaning back and taking the box, bringing out the cupcake as he just smiled.

"Ok, go on." Punk nodded, watching her as she took a bit of icing off with her finger and put it in his mouth as he took it off her finger, "Everything is so sexual with you." He said with a mouthful of icing as she smiled.

"You love it." She smiled, pressing a kiss on his lips, tasting the vanilla as she gripped her waist and let her deepen the kiss. No fight could ever be that serious with them.


	9. Unhealthy

**Unhealthy**

* * *

"So that was a fucking disaster last night." Dean said the next day in work as he and Punk clocked in.

"Well maybe if dad had told Lydia a little more than hi my name is Jack but people call me JC, then it wouldn't have been such a mess." Punk said, "I got laid, I don't care." Punk shrugged.

"How? You were fighting?" Dean shook his head.

"Yeah and we made up." Punk shrugged, "In the kitchen." He winked as Dean pretended to boke.

"Don't go any further." Dean put his hand up as Punk just chuckled, "Anna hit the eight month mark today." He said as Punk smiled.

"Yeah?" Punk smiled, "Excited?"

"Yeah, well… I wanna meet her but like… I need at least another year to be prepared." He said as Punk laughed a little.

"You'll never be prepared so, she'll come when she comes." Punk nodded, "Any names yet?"

"We've got a few we like but we're not saying anything yet." Dean said, "Not until we really decide." He said as Punk nodded.

"Well what are the few you like?" Punk asked him.

"I'm not telling you." Dean scoffed, "You didn't tell me Keala's name when I wanted to know." He said as Punk just rolled his eyes.

"Fine. I trust you won't name her something stupid." Punk said as Dean just nodded, turning around when he saw Sam come out of his office.

"Can I see you both?" Sam asked simply as Punk turned around too, "Just about the rota." He said as Dean and Punk both nodded and walked into the office, "Just check it over and make sure it suits you." He said. It was the only time they ever had to make contact with each other. Sam had been put in his place, and he didn't go near them unless he really had to.

"That's good for me." Punk just nodded.

"Not good for me." Dean said, "I told you I needed this week off. Anna is due then." He said, pointing to the rota in a few weeks.

"Oh, shit yeah." Sam nodded, "This week?" He pointed on the rota.

"Yeah." Dean said.

"Ok, that's fine." Sam said, "Thanks." He nodded to them both as they left the office. He then grabbed his phone from his pocket and opened up the texts he had, sending a new one to his cousin.

* * *

" _I got in! I got in!" Vanessa squealed, running up the stairs holding a letter, running into the bedroom and jumping on the bed where JC was lying, "I got in." She smiled, jumping up and down on the bed._

" _Let's see." JC said, sitting up and pulling her down, taking the letter from her and reading it._

" _See, look… they are happy to confirm my place." She pointed to the line which she was only interested in, "And I didn't even have to pretend that I had a six month old baby." Vanessa said, "Maybe they felt sorry for me." She frowned suddenly._

" _Shut up of course they didn't." JC said, "You got in because you're smart and they liked you." He nodded, "Brains and the beauty of this relationship." He said, continuing to read the letter._

" _Well." Vanessa smiled modestly._

" _When do you start?" JC asked her._

" _September." She said._

" _Are you excited?" JC smiled to her._

" _Yes, of course I am. I didn't think I stood a chance." She shook her head._

" _Well you did." JC nodded, "Well done, you're a star." He smiled, leaning over and giving her a kiss as she kissed back._

 _Things had been going well for them. Their home seemed more like a home, their son was doing great, JC had a steady job which he was trying his best not to get fired from and Vanessa had just got accepted into nursing school. It was the best few months they'd had so far and Vanessa knew they could keep it going._

" _You should make me breakfast." Vanessa nudged him as he laughed a little._

" _Should I?" He said as she nodded._

" _I guess maybe I could." JC nodded, getting out of bed as she smiled, watching as he threw a pillow at her as she smiled and sat back against the headboard._

" _You could cook it naked to really treat me." Vanessa nodded as JC laughed._

" _Get a hold of yourself, woman." JC smiled, pulling some shorts and a t-shirt on as they began to hear Phil cry from next door._

" _I'll get him." Vanessa nodded, "You go on down." She said as he nodded and left the bedroom to head downstairs._

 _She got up out of the bed, stepping over the clothes on the floor to get out of the room. They were still just eighteen year old kids who were trying to make a living on their own._

 _She walked into Phil's nursery and over to the crib, picking him up and smiling at his fuzzy little hair sticking up, "Hey, little guy." She smiled as he stopped crying and yawned, "Hey." She smiled softly, carrying him over to the changing table, "Mommy got into nursing school." She smiled, taking his little hands in hers as he kicked and wriggled around on the table, "Yeah, she did." She smiled to him. She was at her happiest with the people she loved the most._

* * *

 _4 months later…_

" _You are kidding, right?" JC asked, standing in the kitchen across from his nineteen year old girlfriend._

" _No, I'm not." Vanessa said as JC looked across at her with confusion._

" _We… We have a ten month old." JC said, not being able to comprehend it._

" _Yeah, I know that." Vanessa said, "I-I could have forgotten my pill or… messed the dates up, I don't know-"_

" _This is ridiculous." JC groaned, "We're nineteen and we're on our second kid? That's not right?"_

" _Well it wasn't like it was planned, was it?" Vanessa said, "It's not the end of the world." She shrugged._

" _No, it's just more money, more time, and another kid that we… we didn't want, just like the first one." JC spat._

" _Now you're being mean." Vanessa warned him, "We'll deal with it, just like we dealt with it the first time. Things have been really good for us right now. You're working, I'm at school, Phil is great… we… we can do this. I know it's not ideal but… it's not gonna ruin everything."_

" _I need a fucking drink." JC shook his head, turning around and placing his hands on the kitchen counter as Vanessa looked at his back._

" _Is that just your solution to everything?" Vanessa asked him quietly, "Just drink and it'll all go away?" She said, "Here." She said, walking over to the fridge, grabbing out a can of beer frantically, "Here, have it. If it makes you feel better." She said, pushing the beer against his arm, "Go on. Be a man." She nodded as he grabbed the can from her and threw it across the kitchen, staring down at her as she looked up at him._

" _Stop it." JC warned her, narrowing his eyes as she gulped._

" _You don't scare me." Vanessa whispered, as if letting him in on a secret, "And you know fine well you don't."_

" _I'm not trying to. I'm telling you to stop it." JC said as she looked at him, "We can barely look after Phil, Ness. And we're gonna have another one?"_

" _We can look after him." Vanessa spat, "Phil is fine. It's you who can't be around him for more than a few hours. Why I don't know."_

" _Because I'm a kid, that's why. I wanna be out with my buddies, I wanna have more alone time with you, I wanna enjoy being a kid and I can't because he's always crying, or he needs fed, or he wants to play-"_

" _You're just a selfish pig." Vanessa spat, "You don't care about him." She said, a lump forming in her throat, "Your own son." She whispered._

" _I do care." JC spat._

" _Then why is it so hard for you to want him?" She asked him, "I don't care what age we are."_

" _It's just a lot of pressure." JC said, "And another kid, that's ridiculous." He said._

" _It's not if we work at it. We can have a family. It's not uncommon." She shook her head, "I know none of it was planned. Do you think I wanted kids this young? No, of course I didn't, but we have Phil and I couldn't imagine him not being here. Same goes for this baby." She said, pointing to her stomach, "We've been doing just fine."_

" _Yeah, exactly, we've been just getting by… add another kid onto that… we're gonna end up falling apart, Ness. And I don't want that." He shook his head._

" _Who says we have to fall apart?" Vanessa asked, "Yeah, it'll be a lot but… we have each other. That's always been our advantage. We've always got each other." She said, taking his hands in hers as he pulled them away._

" _No, I need… I need to go out."_

" _Jack." Vanessa shook her head, "Please don't. Just stay here and we can… we can talk about this. We have the space. Phil can share a room until we… we get a little more money for a better place-"_

" _We're broke." JC said._

" _We won't be forever. This is us just starting out." Vanessa said._

" _No, I need… I need out of here." He said, feeling his chest get tight and the air get to warm. He loved his girlfriend and he loved his son, of course he had his struggles, but he still loved them. Adding another baby on top of it all was just enough to tip him over the edge._

" _Please don't. Just stay here." Vanessa said, but he had already brushed by her and walked down the hallway to the door._

 _She listened as the door opened and closed, sighing to herself as she leaned over the counter, listening as Phil began to cry from upstairs after his afternoon nap._

* * *

 _3 days later…_

 _Vanessa pretty much stayed indoors for a few days, just waiting worriedly on her boyfriend returning home after what was obviously a weekend bender. He was friends with the wrong people and she knew what he was up to. It terrified her. Sitting in bed with their ten month old crawling over her, trying so hard to stay calm when she was anything but._

 _She understood another baby was a shock, they were still teenagers, but she knew they could get through it, if they had each other's back. She always had his, she just felt like he didn't have hers as much._

 _She was laying on the couch, Phil was napping in his room when she heard the door open. She immediately got to her feet and walked out of the living room, looking over at her boyfriend who slowly closed the door over, turning around to her as he saw his pale, almost yellow face which had a few cuts on it._

" _Jack." Vanessa frowned. She could see he was sober, but clearly he hadn't been for the entire weekend, "What happened to you?" She asked him, walking over to him and inspecting him._

" _I'm fine." JC shook his head._

" _No, you're not." She said. No matter where he was and how scared he was of his responsibilities. She was always his home. His safe place._

" _I just got into a fight." JC assured her._

" _No kidding." Vanessa said, taking his hand and walking off into the kitchen, "Sit down." She told him as he took a seat at the table, "I was worried you'd never come back." She admitted as JC frowned._

" _I'd always come back." JC nodded, which eased her mind, even though they clearly had an extremely unhealthy relationship._

" _That was three days." Vanessa said, getting the first aid kit out as he took his jacket off. She turned around, sitting down across from him as she spotted the inside of his arms, gulping as she saw the fresh inject wound, staring at it as he noticed._

" _It's fine." He mumbled._

" _It's not fine." Vanessa shook her head, "You are going to die." She told him bluntly as he looked across at her, "You'll die, and I'll be here, alone with two kids. I don't want that to happen. You're worth so much more than this." She said._

" _No one is gonna die." He said, "Technically I'm giving you good practise for your nursing stuff." He winked as she just made a face._

" _Now isn't the time for a joke. This can't keep happening. I get it, it's a lot of pressure on us, but these are our kids. I know this freaks you out, you've only ever had to look out for yourself and now suddenly there's gonna be two little people who need you." She said, cleaning his cut above his eyebrow as he looked at her._

" _I have… completely ruined you." JC looked at her as she looked across at him, "You could have had so much better than this." He nodded._

" _No." Vanessa said, "It's you I love. Nothing will change that. I just wish you treated yourself a little better." She said, "And stop hanging around people that influence you." She shook her head, "We've been through too much. Another baby isn't going to kill us. Tire us, maybe. Not kill us." She said._

" _I don't want to let anyone down." JC said._

" _You won't." Vanessa said as Vanessa squeezed his hand, "We can do this." She nodded as he just looked at her and pushed a small smile. Her strength was something he envied._

* * *

 **A/N: I know this was just mainly a flashback chapter but I think JC and Vanessa's story is interesting! Also, what is Sam up to? Lots still to come. The explanation of 'that night' will also come too. Thanks for the reviews!**


	10. Taken

**Taken**

* * *

"Hey! Anna is in labour!" Punk called as he walked into the house a few weeks later, watching AJ appear at the top of the stairs as she rushed down them.

"She is?" AJ asked.

"Yeah, Dean text. Says her waters broke this morning." He said, "I told him to update us and that we'd be in there right away as soon as she's born." He smiled.

"Oh, I'm so excited." AJ smiled cheerfully, "I'm just glad I don't have to go through any pain to see _this_ baby." She said, walking through to the kitchen as he followed and nodded.

"Yeah, me too." Punk agreed as AJ just made a face, "What? I get those sympathy pains thing." Punk waved his hand, immediately going to the fridge to eat something after a long shift.

"Yeah, and I'm sure that compares to the pain I had to go through." She made a face as he just shrugged.

"Where is Keala and Frankie? It's real quiet in here." Punk admitted to her truthfully.

"Keala is with Colette and Frankie is sleeping. Jackson wanted Keala to go over and play on the new x-box he got for his birthday." AJ smiled sweetly, "Of course Keala jumped at the opportunity to beat any male at anything."

"My girl." Punk nodded, not surprised at all, "So we have a… a quiet house?" Punk gasped, "That's tempting."

"I have work to do, nice try." AJ smiled across at him.

"It's 5pm. Work time is over." He said, walking over to her.

"Yeah, for you maybe. I have a case to present in front of a judge in a few days." She told him.

"Are you married to this judge?" Punk questioned as she smiled.

"No, I'm not." She said.

"Well then forget about him." He smirked, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss on her lips as she kissed back, smiling against the kiss as he picked her up and sat her on the kitchen table.

"You're terrible." She shook her head.

"No I'm not." Punk smiled, kissing her neck as she rolled her head back and smiled.

* * *

" _What are you doing here?" Vanessa asked, looking over as her mother walked into the hospital room she was in. Of course dressed head to toe in her finest clothes, her hair perfectly curled and her make-up slapped on._

" _Here to meet my grandson." Kelly said, sitting her purse down and walking over to the bassinet beside Vanessa's bed, not saying anything else as she wandered over and picked the baby boy up, "Now this one looks more like you." She nodded._

" _This one?" Vanessa stared at her tiredly, "His name is Dean." She spat._

" _Dean." Kelly nodded, "It's a nice name." She smiled, cradling the baby boy into her arms as he slept quietly, "Where is your other son?" She asked._

" _With a friend." Vanessa said._

" _Not his father?" Kelly asked._

" _Go away." Vanessa shook her head, "I… I just can't be bothered listening to you right now."_

" _Nineteen and you have two kids. It's like you're going for a record or something." Kelly shook her head, "I taught you about safe sex, didn't I?"_

" _Go away." Vanessa repeated calmly._

" _Where is he?" Kelly asked her._

" _I don't know." Vanessa answered truthfully._

" _He left a few days ago and he's not came home." Vanessa said._

" _And then you let him back in when he does come home, don't you? You let him back in and you have no idea where he's been, who he's been with or… inside-"_

" _He doesn't cheat on me." Vanessa spat._

" _How do you know that?" Kelly asked her, "You know nothing about what he does. He's a filthy drug addict and if you want any sort of quality of a life, for you and your sons, then you'll tell him to stay away."_

" _Why do you care?" Vanessa asked, "We all have our problems. He just needs some help. He'll be fine." She said, still living in denial that they could be a perfect family, when so much damage had already been done._

" _I care because you are my daughter you stupid girl." Kelly spat._

" _You didn't care when I had Phil." Vanessa said._

" _I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I thought you'd prove me wrong, and for a while I thought you had. You got into nursing school, JC had a steady job, you had your house, I thought… I owe that poor girl an apology." She nodded, "But no… this is exactly what I knew would happen since the minute you looked in that boys general direction. I told you. He is messed up, he is from the wrong side of the tracks and he will bring you down with him. I'm surprised you're not on drugs at this point." She shook her head as Vanessa just stayed silent, "I mean… he left you to give birth alone. What kind of man does that?"_

" _He didn't know I was in labour-"_

" _Vanessa, stop defending him." Kelly shook her head, "You need to open your eyes, girl. And do it fast." She said._

" _I love him. And he loves me." Vanessa said, the only thing she was sure of._

" _Maybe but it's not a good relationship. Not for either of you. This is where the adult in you should tell you to walk away. But you're a child and you're trying to glove onto something that just isn't happening. You have two sons now. One who is one, almost two. And a newborn. That's a lot for a young girl like you to focus on. The last thing you need is to be worrying about that boy coming home drunk, or high… what if he gets violent? It's all possibilities-"_

" _He wouldn't hurt me." Vanessa shook her head, "Why are you here? You don't care about me. I was… I was invisible to you. It wasn't until Hayley died that you actually paid attention to me." She said as Kelly glared at her._

" _That is not true." Kelly spat._

" _It is." Vanessa said, "You didn't even know I was dating JC until you found out I was pregnant… because you didn't care." She said, "And I'm glad you didn't because he paid me attention, and he loved me, way better than you ever have. And yeah we had dirty rough sex. And I've smoked. And I've been so drunk I forgot about what happened the night before." She said as Kelly looked at her with disgust, "I don't care." She said tiredly, "I don't care about any of it. I care about my sons and my boyfriend."_

" _Your boyfriend who… just disappears for a few days, doesn't tell you where he is. Your sons… one who is with a friend because you have absolutely no one else in your life to look after him." Kelly said as Vanessa rested her head on the pillow, "You should be ashamed of all of this… this mess you've gotten yourself into. You should have got an abortion the first time, got rid of JC and went onto nursing school-"_

" _No, I shouldn't have." Vanessa shook her head, "My sons mean the world to me. I can do everything I want to do with kids too. It's not impossible." She said._

" _And what about a drunk boyfriend?" Kelly asked, "He's gonna weigh you down until you are six foot under. Believe me."_

" _You're wrong." Vanessa whispered._

" _Am I?" Kelly laughed a little, "You're just in denial. Wake up. And wake up quickly, if not for you, then for these two little boys. I don't doubt your skills to be a mother. You've always been a very… caring person. Especially with your sister." She nodded to herself, "Just get rid of him. Watch all your problems fall away."_

" _Leave." Vanessa said as Kelly just nodded._

" _I just wanted to come… give you a reality check." Kelly said, placing Dean back down in the bassinet, picking her purse back up, "I hope you come to your senses." She said as Vanessa just turned away from her, listening as she left the room._

 _Vanessa turned her head around and sighed, tears welling in her eyes as she looked around the empty room, glancing over at Dean and sighing as she wiped her tears. She felt more alone now than ever._

* * *

"I have a niece. I can't believe it." Punk smiled, walking into the hospital later that night, holding Frankie in his arms as the one year old looked around at the hospital surroundings, holding onto the top of his father's jacket.

"I bet she's so cute." AJ smiled. They were both super excited to meet their new niece who they had been told was perfectly healthy, born a few hours ago at 6 pounds and 5 ounces.

"Keala will be so bummed she couldn't come." Punk said.

"To be honest, I think she's more happy at Colette's, she text to say that we might need to get an x-box for her this Christmas." AJ laughed a little, "I'd end up just playing it all the time. Could be a disaster."

"Now that's something I'd like to see again." Punk nodded, recalling AJ playing video games a hell of a lot when they were younger.

"Could be bad for my career." She smiled, taking the elevator up to the maternity unit as they eventually got out and walked along the corridor to get to the room which Dean text that they were in.

"Here take this guy." Punk said, passing Frankie over to AJ who took the toddler in her arms, walking on into the room, "Hey." Punk smiled, glad to see both Dean and Anna.

"Hey." Dean and Anna both smiled in sync, Anna of course a little more tiredly.

"Congratulations, kid." Punk smiled as he walked over to his brother, embracing him tightly and messing his hair up as Dean laughed.

"Thanks." Dean smiled.

"Congratulations." Punk smiled, moving onto Anna as he leaned down and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. AJ went onto do the same, awkwardly giving them both a hug with Frankie in her arms. It was nice for something nice to be going on for once.

"So where is she?" AJ smiled.

"She's down in the nursery." Dean said, "I'll take you down to see her." He nodded, "I think it's only one person in the room at a time-"

"I'll wait here." AJ said, "As long as you come back for me so I can see her straight after." She smiled.

"What's her name?" Punk asked, taking his jacket off and throwing it over the arm chair which AJ took a seat on beside the bed, sitting Frankie on her knee as he looked around the room and pulled her hair cheekily.

"Skyler… April." Dean smiled, looking over at AJ as she raised her eyebrows.

"What?" AJ said in a high-pitched voice.

"What?" Dean shrugged, "You're my sis." He said as Anna smiled. She understood why he wanted to give their daughter a special middle name. And it was special to him. AJ was just as good a sister to him as Phil was a brother.

"That's so nice." AJ said, feeling extremely touched, "Thank you." She said, looking over at Anna who just smiled.

"It's a pretty name." She nodded as AJ smiled.

Dean smiled, turning to his brother who folded his arms and looked at him, "And where is Phil?" Punk asked.

"Phil is a boy's name." Dean rolled his eyes, "Don't be so dramatic." He shook his head, "You're still gonna be her favourite uncle." He nodded as Punk just scoffed.

"Yeah, well obviously." Punk said, "Ok, c'mon. I wanna see her." He said as AJ smiled.

"Don't be too long." AJ told them as they left the room, turning around to Anna to talk to her about how she was feeling and how it all went.

"She seems really small but like… I think it might just be me thinking that." Dean told his brother as they walked down the corridor.

"Yeah, it seems like it when you hold them." Punk nodded, "How'd it feel? Being in the room?"

"Dude I almost cried." Dean shook his head, "It's so overwhelming like… it's your little person. It's crazy." He said as Punk smiled.

"So it's not as scary as you thought so far?" Punk smiled.

"Well… she's a few hours old." Dean said, "Give it a few days."

"Does CJ know she's born?" Punk asked.

"Yeah, I told Paige to tell him. She's gonna bring him in tomorrow to see her. He's super excited." Dean nodded.

"I'm just joking about the name, by the way. I love it. It's cute." Punk nodded, "And… I know it will mean a whole to AJ that you gave her April as a middle name." He said.

"Yeah, well she's just like a sister, isn't she?" Dean shrugged, "Been there for me as much as you have over the years." He said as Punk smiled, "Ok, here we are." He smiled, walking up to the glass window in the nursery, "She's just…" He looked along the babies, spotting the bassinet that Skyler was in earlier, empty.

"Where?" Punk asked.

"She was… in that one there." Dean said with confusion as he pointed to the empty bassinet as Punk shook his head, "Wait a minute." He said, turning to a doctor passing by, "Hey, my daughter was in the bassinet over there on the right and now she's not in it, do you… know where she is?" He asked, feeling like it was a stupid question.

"I can go check. She might be getting fed or something." The doctor nodded casually, "I'll go see." She told him.

"Thanks." Dean nodded, watching her as she walked down the corridor to the desk area.

"Look at them all just lying there. I guarantee one of them will end up in prison." Punk said, looking on at all the babies as Dean just rolled his eyes.

"What the hell is going on?" Dean said to himself as he saw the doctor he was talking to, speaking with a few other doctors. He was starting to get nervous.

Punk turned around and saw Dean was making his way over to the desk area, so he followed him.

"Can you guys tell me what's going on?" Dean asked, slowly creeping around the corner, shaking his head as he saw Jean, Anna's mother standing signing papers over a desk, "What the hell are you doing here?" Dean shook his head.

"She… has legal custody over the baby, sir." The doctor said as Dean looked at the doctor as though she was headless.

"Excuse me?" Dean shook his head.

"What?" Punk spat.

"With you and the baby's mother on drugs, on legal grounds, Mrs Ferris has gotten legal custody over the baby as her grandmother."

"I'm not on drugs… neither is my girlfriend." Dean said, looking up and over at Jean who finished signing over release papers, looking over at him.

"She's not safe with them." Jean told one of the doctors quietly as Dean looked on at her, in shock and disbelief that this was actually happening.

"You have no proof." Punk spat, starting to get just as angry.

"We… do." The doctor said, "We have blood work from both the baby's mother and father. A stream of cocaine was found in the blood work. That's not something we can ignore and with Mrs Ferris here seeking custody, she's got it on the basis of the safety of the baby. That's all we can say." The doctor said.

"You can't just take her!" Dean yelled, "You fucking bitch." Dean spat as Jean sat down the pen on the desk.

"She's not safe with your or Anna. This is the best thing for Skyler-"

"Who'd you pay to give the fake blood work?" Dean asked, trying to get closer to her as Punk followed closely to make sure he didn't do anything he'd regret, "Huh? Who did you pay? We all know you're rich. Who'd you pay for this to actually work out?" Dean asked loudly, making sure everyone could hear him.

"No one." Jean said, "She's in safer conditions in New York with me."

"You are not taking my daughter to New York." Dean said, "How is this happening?!" He yelled at the doctors angrily.

"The papers are all there." The doctor put her hand up, "It's official-"

"Fuck off, no it's not." Dean spat, "I'm her dad and I'm not on drugs!" He spat at Jean who just nodded

"Yeah, you are. You're just like your father." Jean shook her head.

"Think about what you're doing here." Punk said, trying not to lose his cool, not believing this was actually happening in front of him.

"I'm making sure a little girl grows up safely." Jean spat, "Something your mother never did for either of you." She hissed as Punk and Dean just stared at her, "Only if she could see this right now." She smiled.

"She would knock your head clean off your shoulders!" Dean yelled.

"You see." Jean said, turning to the doctors, "Violent and a drug addict." She nodded, "She's better with me." She nodded to them.

"You're not gonna get what you want here." Punk said, having to put a hand in front of Dean to make sure he didn't get any closer to Jean, "I don't know who you're paying to get this appropriate evidence, and I don't know why you want to take your own daughter's baby from her, but you're not gonna get what you want." Punk shook his head.

"I always get what I want." Jean said, "She stays with me now." She nodded.

"You can't just take her!" Dean shouted, beginning to get hysterical as Punk had to hold him back, "That's my daughter!"

"You'll get an update, maybe a visit." Jean nodded, lifting up the carrier which Skyler was in as Punk and Dean looked at her fast asleep. From what Punk could see, she was perfect, with light little strands of hair, small but healthy, fast asleep over all the commotion going on.

"Please don't take her." Dean shook his head.

"You don't wanna do this." Punk said.

"I do." Jean told him.

"Don't." Dean said, "Why is no one doing anything?!" Dean yelled at the doctors as Punk tried to calm him down, "She's taking my kid!" He yelled, watching as Jean walked out of sight.


	11. That Night

**That Night**

* * *

"I'm asking you this, not as my wife, as a lawyer. Can she do this? Is this legal?" Punk asked, standing outside the hospital room with AJ, holding Frankie in his arms whilst Dean and Anna were inside the room. Anna was upset, obviously, as was Dean, but he was trying to reassure her the best he could. The fact it was her own mother made it all the more worse.

"She can do this." AJ nodded to him, "I mean… clearly she's paid some doctor to come up with these fake blood tests. But it's there in writing which means any judge would grant her legal custody of the baby if… if her parents are both on drugs." AJ said.

"But they aren't." Punk shook his head, "She can really just come in and take her like that?"

"Yeah. She also has a lot of money so… rich people tend to favour rich people." AJ said, "Why would she do this? What does she even have against Anna? I know they don't get along, obviously but… I don't get along with my mom, but she doesn't try and take my baby." She said.

"I don't know what's going on." Punk shook his head, "I couldn't believe it was happening in front of me." He said, "I thought Dean was gonna lose it."

"They just need to keep a cool head. They're being watched now so… anything they do from now until the official court hearing, it's gonna be watched and used against them. So Dean losing his head, tearing up a hospital, that's gonna be used against him in court." AJ nodded, "So they need to keep calm, prove to everyone that they can take care of their baby-"

"Obviously they can-"

"I know they can." AJ said, "But I'm telling you this as a lawyer." She nodded, "I will… I'll represent them." She nodded, "We'll suit up and we'll get her back." She said as Punk nodded, shaking his head.

"Why would she do this, though? Is it… is it to prove a point? Or… or get back at Anna for cutting the relationship off? I don't get it." Punk shook his head.

"She's clearly a troubled woman." AJ shook her head, "I'll rip her apart, don't worry." She nodded, "C'mon, we should go back inside and make sure they're ok."

"I know I just couldn't take all the crying." Punk sighed, feeling Frankie rest his head on his shoulder as he sighed, "He's getting tired." He said as AJ nodded, stroking their son's cheek and kissing his nose as the one-year-old smiled at her whilst resting on his father's shoulder.

"Ok, baby. We'll go home soon." AJ nodded, cupping his little cheek, "They need us right now." AJ said as Punk nodded.

They walked back into the room where Anna was laying in the bed with Dean sitting beside on the chair. At first she lost it, she didn't believe them, and then she tried getting out of the bed to hunt her mother down, and then the almost screams and cries came, which is when AJ and Punk stepped outside to give the couple a minute. Dean was trying to keep himself together.

"I am… I'm gonna represent you in court. Obviously we're gonna press for full custody." AJ nodded to them, "I pride myself on not losing cases often, and I promise I will… I'll do everything I can to help you, and get Skyler back with you." She said, "All I need you both to do is lay low. Don't talk to anyone, don't let anyone see you angry." She looked specifically at Dean, "You're probably being watched, so anything you do could be used against you in court." She reminded them.

"How long will it take to get the court hearing?" Anna asked, drying her eyes as tears seemed to continuously stream down her cheeks.

"Normally it's a few weeks." AJ said as Anna cried a little more, looking down as Dean took her hand, "But you should be entitled to a visit. I'll need to look through what the actual agreement is, but as her mother and father, you should be allowed to see her." AJ nodded, "I'll check it out."

"This is ridiculous." Dean shook his head, "How can she just… take her? Just like that?"

"She has all the legal documents for it." AJ said, "She can do it. And the blood work that she's used to get custody, she's obviously paid for." She said, "I don't want to see like your lawyer instead of your friend right now… but… Anna, why would she do this? Do you know? Is there any specific reason I need to know about?" She asked. She felt awkward trying to treat them as clients when they were her best friends, practically like her brother and sister, but it's what she had to do.

"I have no idea." Anna cried, "The last time I saw her was… when she came to me after the first miscarriage. She… She did say about me coming to New York with her and that a baby shouldn't be raised where we live." She remembered.

"Ok, good we can… we can use that." AJ nodded, "You'd be able to testify, yeah?"

"Yeah. Anything I need to do." Anna nodded desperately.

"Ok." AJ said, "Just focus on getting back to good health and when you get out of here, I'll talk things over with you. We'll get her. I promise." AJ nodded. She wasn't going to let her own family down.

"Thank you." Anna smiled softly.

"Anything you need." Punk nodded to them both.

"Thanks, man." Dean said, "Do me a favour and fill dad in, I don't want him coming here expecting to see her now…" He shook his head.

"Yeah I'll let him know." Punk nodded, "We're gonna go and give you some space. But please don't worry." He looked at both of them. He couldn't imagine how they were feeling. Having their first baby, having such a difficult time with two miscarriages previously, and finally having their baby, only for her to be legally taken from them hours after she was born. His heart broke for them, "We'll get her, ok?" He said as they both just nodded.

"Do you need us to get CJ?" AJ asked Dean.

"No, I'm gonna give Paige a call and tell her what's going on, she'll be fine with him." Dean said as AJ nodded.

"Ok." AJ said, "We'll come see you tomorrow again." She nodded, both of them eventually leaving with Frankie, not feeling like they should have done coming from a visit with their new niece. Their new niece who neither of them even got the chance to hold or meet properly.

* * *

Later that night, after barely eating dinner and getting the kids to bed, trying to avoid a lot of Keala's questions about the new baby, JC came around.

Punk explained to him what had happened and he was shocked and angry to say the least.

"How can she do that? Is that legal?" JC asked, standing in the kitchen whilst Punk cleared up the kitchen and AJ sat over at the table.

"Yeah, it's legal. She's got it all in writing. It's the drug thing. She's paid a doctor or someone she knows to tamper with blood work so that she could use it to get custody. It worked. They think that Anna is now a drug taker of cocaine, they also think Dean is, and they think that Anna took drugs whilst she was pregnant, which shows that she was harming the baby, which they will use in court." AJ nodded.

"And you know your way around a court room. You're gonna suit up for them?" He asked.

"I'm not giving them a choice." AJ said, "That's my niece. She has no reason to do this. I'll get her back, and I'll tear her down in the process." She shook her head as JC smiled.

"But what's the deal? Why did her mom take her? What's she got against her?" JC asked as Punk passed him a coffee he'd made for him, "Thanks." JC nodded, walking over to the table and taking a seat.

"We don't know." AJ said, "They've never got a long. She has always been pretty controlling over Anna. Abusive if anything." She nodded, "She made a huge article a few years ago about Phil. How his upbringing destined him to be put on death row basically." She said, "She's hard work."

"What's her name?" JC asked her.

"Jean. Is it Jean?" AJ asked Punk.

"Yeah, Jean Ferris." Punk nodded as JC paused and looked at them both.

"What?" AJ shook her head.

"Jean Ferris?" JC asked.

"Yeah." Punk said, "Why? What is it?"

"She was… she was your mom's best friend. Like… they were like sisters." JC shook his head, "And then when we started dating, she told Vanessa to choose. No one liked me, you all know that." JC said, "I always thought she was jealous of your mom." He said, "She left to go to college and we had you." He nodded to Punk, "They never spoke again after that."

"I'd hate to think that she's doing this because her best friend chose her boyfriend over her." Punk said.

"Well… something else…" JC paused, looking at them both. He didn't want to go down that road with them, "She's always been strange." He quickly diverted as Punk just folded his arms.

"Something else what?" Punk said, "Now isn't the time to hide things, old man."

"Stop calling me old man." JC scoffed, "I'm not hiding anything."

"Yes you are. You're as good a liar as he is." AJ pointed to Punk, "And he's awful."

"It was just stuff that happened when I was a kid, when your mom was still friends with her. Just some kid stuff, you know…"

"We don't know." AJ said, "What happened?" AJ asked him, "C'mon, this is a little baby on the line here. If you know things that could help us-"

"It's not something that is gonna help anyone, trust me." JC said.

"I still wanna know." Punk said, "Tell me." He said as JC just groaned.

"Your mom was four or five months pregnant with you at the time. I invited her out with a couple of friends of mine, and I told her to bring Jean too." He said as Punk sat down beside AJ at the table.

"So they came to the house where a few of my buddy's had people over. It was just a house party. Your mom was good at making friends, Jean… well, maybe she just didn't like the people who were there. They weren't rich kids, as you'd imagine." She said, "So we're having a good time-"

"Wait a minute." Punk folded his arms, "Was mom drinking? Is this why I looked like a bowling ball when I was born?"

"No, shut up. Your mom barely drank when she wasn't pregnant." JC shook his head, "She just wanted out of the house, and she was trying to get Jean to know other people. But… sometimes with those types of parties, people you don't know start to appear until the house is full." He said.

"I don't really like this story." AJ admitted truthfully.

"No you won't." JC nodded, "I was with your mom all night and Jean sort of disappeared. Your mom noticed and started to get worried so she went looking for her. She went upstairs and found her with some guy. There didn't seem to be much consent going on, if you know what I mean." He looked at them both as they nodded, "So your mom freaked out. Like I said, they were like sisters. Anything bad happened to the other, they'd be devastated. So your mom just attacked. The kid was like a year older, I don't know. He struck your mom a few times and tried to go back to Jean but Vanessa just snapped. She grabbed this… ornament thing from the side of the bed and… she hit him across the head with it."

" _Oh my God." Jean shook her head, sitting on the bed and looking down at the boy lying on the floor, blood trickling out of his ear and down his head as Vanessa stood with the ornament in her hand, the sound of the loud music from downstairs banging._

" _Uh… I need to… lock the door." Vanessa nodded, walking over and locking the bedroom door as Jean looked down._

" _Is he… is he dead?" Jean asked as Vanessa walked over, placing two fingers by his neck and gulping as she desperately waited on a pulse that wasn't coming._

" _Yeah, he's dead." Vanessa nodded, getting back to her feet, siting the bloody ornament down and placing her hand on the wall, feeling dizzy and nauseous as she looked at the body._

" _What the hell." Jean squealed, both seventeen and frightened, "Why did you do that?!" She cried._

" _He was hurting you." Vanessa said, "I couldn't just let him."_

" _But you… you killed him." Jean shook her head as Vanessa turned around, placing her hands on the wall as she tried to take deep breaths, "You have just murdered someone, Vanessa."_

" _Shut up." Vanessa said quietly, "Let me think."_

" _Think about what?" Jean stood up, "Turn around." She said, pushing Vanessa around to face her, "We need to call the police."_

" _No, that's not what we do." Vanessa said._

" _It was self-defence." Jean said, "He was forcing himself on me, you tried to get him off and hit him, it's self-defence." She said._

" _I can't call the police to this house for obvious reasons. Switch your brain on." Vanessa said, "I need to get JC."_

" _No, don't." Jean said._

" _H-He… he'll know what to do." Vanessa nodded, moving around on pure shock. She wasn't violent, but seeing her best friend in danger, especially in such physical and mental danger, she wasn't going to do nothing. She never intended for it to go this way however._

" _No, please don't leave this room." Jean said._

" _Just lock the door as soon as I go and I'll call on you when I come back up." Vanessa nodded, "It's fine. It's all fine." She said, still trying to take deep breaths, leaving the room as Jean immediately locked it after her._

 _She made her way downstairs, brushing by people, feeling like the room was spinning as she looked around for her boyfriend, finally finding him in the kitchen with a few of his other friends._

" _Hey, there you are." JC smiled, putting out his cigarette in the ash tray and wrapping his arm around her, "You ok?" He kissed her cheek as Vanessa just nodded._

" _You need to come with me for a minute." Vanessa said._

" _Where?" JC asked._

" _Upstairs." Vanessa said, not even listening as his stupid friends began whistling and talking nonsense._

" _Ok." JC smirked, assuming she had something else in mind, following her out of the kitchen and upstairs, looking with confusion as he saw her knock on one of the doors._

" _It's me." Vanessa said._

" _Wait, who is-" JC paused, watching as the door opened, being pulled in by Vanessa, watching Jean slam the door shut behind and lock it as JC looked around, noticing the guy on the floor, "What the fuck is going on?" JC said, looking at Vanessa who had gone a white shade and looked close to throwing up, "Ok, one of you need to start talking."_

" _Vanessa killed him." Jean said as JC looked at the guy on the floor, shaking his head and turning to his girlfriend who just nodded._

" _He was… he was trying to hurt Jean and I… I hit him on the head but I didn't mean to kill him and I don't want to call the cops." Vanessa gasped, shaking her head as JC looked on in horror. He'd done a lot of things in his life with regret, but he'd never gone as far as taking someone's life._

" _Do we know him?" JC asked, trying to act calm, walking over and standing above the guy, placing his two fingers against his neck, trying to look at his face when suddenly, the boy's eyes opened up, grabbing JC immediately and throwing him down to the ground as Vanessa squealed and watched._

 _She didn't have time to feel relieved that she hadn't killed anybody, because in the process the guy was trying to hurt her boyfriend. Jean watched in horror, turning around as she saw Vanessa pick the ornament back up, sliding it over to JC who picked it up and immediately smacked it over the boy's head, it being the only way for him to let go of his throat so he could breathe again._

 _JC didn't recognise the guy. He assumed it was just some kid from the other side of town, rivals looking to create damage._

" _Are you ok?" Vanessa asked worriedly, watching as JC stood up, helping him as he nodded, staring down at the boy as all three of them looked on. The only reason they knew he was dead, was because his eyes were fixed open._

" _You two need to get out of here." JC said quietly._

" _What?" Vanessa shook her head, "No, we're not just gonna leave you. What do we do?" Vanessa asked._

" _Look at her." JC pointed to Jean who was shaking and crying, "You need to take her away from here. I'll take care of this."_

" _Take care?" Jean gulped, "What does that mean? We need to call the police." Jean shook her head._

" _Vanessa, just get her out." JC said as Vanessa just nodded._

" _Ok, c'mon." Vanessa nodded, taking a hold of Jean and leading her out of the room, looking back at JC who was staring down at the body. She didn't doubt he would be lost with what to do, but she felt guilty and responsible for leading him into this._

" _Go." JC told her. His main priority was to get them away from the entire thing in the case that someone did see. But he knew what he had to do._

* * *

 **A/N: Lots to come! Thanks for the reviews. Let me know what you think.**


	12. Going To War

**Going To War**

* * *

"So moral of the story… you killed someone?" Punk asked, he and AJ sitting across from JC as he looked at them and sighed.

"I… it was self-defence. I didn't go out that night intending to murder someone. I was a kid. I wanted to help your mom, he attacked me, it was instinct to hit him."

"What'd you do with the body?" AJ asked curiously.

"I… dumped it. It was found. Nothing traced back to us." JC said.

"It's just secret after secret with you." Punk shook his head.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't have to. There was no need for you to know. Your mother never told you either, you wanna hate her?"

"She's dead." Punk said, "If she wasn't, yeah I'd be pretty pissed." Punk nodded, "And anyway, what's this got to do with Jean taking the baby? So her and mom were friends and they stopped speaking, it happens… doesn't mean she has to go take her daughter's baby."

"Jean… felt like what happened that night was mine and your mother's fault. She started being horrible to Vanessa. Saying that we'd brought her into our world. What that's supposed to mean I don't know. She was just bitter after that, especially when she found out that I dumped the body instead of phoning the cops." He said.

"Why didn't you call the cops?" AJ asked, "Say it was self-defence, an accident?"

"Because the house we were in was like a fucking jackpot to cops. Underage drinking, drugs, all that fun stuff." He said, "And I didn't want your mom involved in anything. She was pregnant. She didn't need that shit."

"So you've just lived with that on your mind this entire time?" Punk asked him, "You're a murderer."

"I'm not a murderer. It was self-defence. That guy, whoever he was, he would have raped Jean. And I kept thinking, it could have been anyone. Could have been your mom. It's what he deserved." He said, "You'd do the same, I believe." He said as Punk just sighed and looked across at him.

"I still don't get why this would trigger Jean into taking the baby from Anna and Dean." AJ said.

"I'm not saying it has, but… there's a connection. Jean was rich and afforded things that me and your mom weren't. She wasn't used to life like we were. She wanted your mom to get rid of me and go join in her college and be rich together. Your mom wasn't up for it." JC said, "Maybe that left a bitter taste in her mouth, I don't know."

"This is a bit drastic just for a broken friendship." AJ said, "Taking your daughter's baby from her."

"Well I wouldn't assume she likes the thought of Anna and Dean together." JC shrugged.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "And Anna did say that the last time she came to visit she said about Anna leaving Dean and coming to New York. That that's where her children should be." Punk said.

"How are Dean and Anna holding up?" JC asked.

"How'd you think?" Punk asked as JC nodded, "Not good." He shook his head, "And they can't do anything for a few weeks until we take it to court." Punk said.

"So did… Jean and Vanessa just stop talking after that night?" AJ asked, curious to know more.

"Pretty much." JC nodded, "She'd visit Vanessa, tell her to leave me, that she'd be better off without me. That she was only trying to look out for her." JC shrugged, "But Vanessa wasn't having it and just told her to stop. She was there when Phil was born. Didn't say much. And then a few months later she left to go to college and they just never spoke again." JC shrugged, "As far as I know."

* * *

" _Boys! Come get your lunch." Vanessa called into the garden, watching as her sons came running towards her, pushing each other to get to the door first as she smiled._

" _What we having? What we having?" Dean asked, climbing up the steps and into the kitchen, just 4 years old whilst Phil, 6, toddled behind._

" _Sandwiches. This isn't a hotel." She reminded them, "Share these chips too if you like." She told them, throwing over a bag of chips for them._

" _Uh do we have any strawberry juice boxes? I don't like the apple." Punk groaned, climbing up onto the chair, brushing his messy dark hair out of his face whilst Dean sat across, the brightest blonde hair and blue eyes._

" _I'll swap." Dean said, sliding over his strawberry juice box as Punk slid over his apple._

" _Look at you two being nice." Vanessa smiled._

" _Hey, we're always nice, mommy." Dean said as Vanessa smiled and nodded._

" _Of course you are." Vanessa nodded, turning around to the kitchen counter and opening up the mail from the morning. She'd come to terms with the fact she was very much a single mother with an ex who liked to float around every now and then, when he wasn't in prison of course._

 _She saw the usual letter from JC with the prison stamp on the top, shaking her head and tossing it straight into the trash. He wasn't in for serious things, it was usually a few months at a time for drug related crimes, but their relationship hadn't been the same since they had Dean. It was off and on, bad and good, only now… it seemed to be more bad than ever._

" _I'm working tonight so guess where you guys are going?" Vanessa asked them, turning around._

" _Oh no we aren't going to crazy Jan's are we?" Punk asked, referring to their neighbour who sometimes looked after the boys when Vanessa worked night shift at the hospital. She hadn't let the boys come in the way of getting the career she wanted._

" _Stop calling her that." Vanessa laughed as Punk shrugged, "She's not crazy."_

" _She's a little crazy." Dean mumbled._

" _She's fun." Vanessa said, "But yes, after dinner you're going, and she'll take you to school in the morning. I'll see you after." She told them._

" _You work so much." Punk said, resting his head down on the table whilst eating his sandwich, "Don't you need a break?"_

" _Yeah." Dean chimed in as Vanessa smiled. There was one thing for sure, they made her laugh and kept her going._

" _That's what happens when you have kids and a house." Vanessa said, "You have to work for it."_

" _Does everyone fix people like you?" Dean asked._

" _Hey, I wish I could fix people." Vanessa admitted, "No, everyone has different jobs." She nodded, listening as there was a knock at the door._

" _Oh, who is that?" Punk asked._

" _I don't know." Vanessa said, "Stay here. No food fighting." She said, walking out of the kitchen and down the hallway, opening up the front door, raising her eyebrows as she saw the ex-best friend she hadn't seen in five years._

" _Jean?" Vanessa shook her head._

" _Hey." Jean nodded._

" _Hi." Vanessa shook her head._

" _I wasn't sure you still lived here." Jean admitted._

" _What? Thought I'd be living in a four bedroom mansion?" Vanessa chuckled._

" _I didn't say that." Jean said as Vanessa opened the door wider._

" _Come in." Vanessa nodded as Jean stepped into the house, walking through into the living room as Vanessa followed, "What are you doing here?"_

" _I work here now. In the city." Jean said, "And I… I was passing by and I just thought about my best friend who used to live here." She shrugged._

" _Best friend." Vanessa smiled a little, "That's rich." She nodded, "So you got that journalism degree then?"_

" _Yeah." Jean nodded, "Didn't come easy." She said as Vanessa looked across at her, "And you?"_

" _I'm a nurse." Vanessa nodded, desperate to say it because she knew Jean wasn't expecting it._

" _You are?" Jean raised her eyebrows, "That's great."_

" _Mhm." Vanessa nodded._

" _Where is Phil? He'll be so big now." Jean smiled._

" _They're in the kitchen having lunch." Vanessa said._

" _They?" Jean asked._

" _Yeah, I had another baby after Phil. Dean." Vanessa said, "Just a year and a half between them."_

" _Oh, wow." Jean nodded, "I had a baby." She said as Vanessa looked at her, "A girl. She's three. Anna. Married too." Anna smiled as Vanessa just nodded._

" _Congratulations." Vanessa nodded, "All figured out, huh?"_

" _Well." Jean smiled modestly, "Where is… JC?" She wondered as Vanessa looked at her._

" _He is in prison." Vanessa said as Jean just nodded slowly, "I bet you love that."_

" _What?" Jean shook her head, "Of course I don't. You're still under the illusion that I want to see all this happen to you. That I want you to be on your own. No. That was never it. I just wanted to give you advice, if you listened, maybe JC wouldn't have been your problem." She said, "Does he live here? Does he… does he see the boys?"_

" _What does it matter to you?" Vanessa asked._

" _All I ever did was try and protect you from him." Jean said._

" _I didn't need protecting." Vanessa said, "You were just like everyone else. You didn't like where he came from, the mistakes he made, and you thought you knew what I wanted, and what was best for me, without even asking me." She said as Jean shook her head._

" _Look where he is and where you are. This is what I wanted you to avoid, Vanessa." Jean said, "He's a murderer, for crying out loud." She whispered._

" _No he is not." Vanessa spat, "He defended himself and we were both protecting you that night, may I remind you." She hissed._

" _Yeah and I didn't need anyone to kill anyone." Jean said._

" _Really? Are we really doing this? Is this why you came to see me?" Vanessa asked._

" _No. I came because I thought things could be different. I thought maybe you'd have forgotten about JC, came to your senses, but you're still here defending him, even when he's in prison."_

" _Because I love him. What part of that don't you get?" Vanessa shook her head._

" _I don't get any of it. He just brings you down. He did from day one when I tried to warn you." She said, "You could have had so much more than this life-"_

" _What is it with you? I… I love my life here, with my sons, in my job. Not everything has to be about success and money and wealth. So what I can't take my kids to the cinema because I'm broke sometimes… I stick on a DVD, draw the curtains and put popcorn in the microwave." She said, "It's fun, you should try it." She said as Jean just rolled her eyes._

" _It's not about money-"_

" _It's always been about money with you." Vanessa nodded, "That's why you never liked JC."_

" _I never liked him because he was a dirty junkie who didn't deserve you." Jean said as Vanessa folded her arms, "I don't know what he has over you, why you always have to defend him-"_

" _He has nothing over me." Vanessa scoffed, "It's just none of your business anymore. So if this is all you have to say then… just leave." She nodded, "I'm not doing this all over again."_

" _Don't you want your sons to have a better life? I couldn't imagine my daughter having to grow up with a dead beat dad, a confused mom, in such a… a small space." She looked around._

" _Well God help your daughter because she'll have a shock when she goes into the real world. Just like you did that night. That night we saved your ass-"_

" _I didn't ask for that." Jean rolled her eyes._

" _Shut up." Vanessa said, "My sons are fine. They're happy, they have clothes on their back, food in their mouths every day. That's all I ever care about, nothing else matters to me. Not money and materials and success." She said as Jean just sighed._

" _Well God help them." Jean shook her head._

" _I clawed your eyes once, don't make me do it again. Vanessa shook her head as Jean stared at her._

" _Mommy." Dean entered the living room holding his juice box, "Hello, can you open my juice box, please." Dean said, wandering over to his mother and the stranger in their living room._

 _Jean looked over at Dean and smiled. He was cute for sure, and she had no doubt that Vanessa raised them right, but she was just brought up in different ways._

" _Yeah." Vanessa smiled, taking the juice box from Dean as he stood, his little short self beside her, placing his hands behind his back, staring at Jean who just smiled to him, "Ok, here you go baby." She said, piercing the straw through the box and handing it to Dean, "Careful, don't spill any."_

" _Ok, thank you." Dean nodded, taking his box and walking back out of the living room._

" _He's cute." Jean nodded._

" _Yeah, he is." Vanessa nodded, "And you're leaving." She said as Jean just shook her head._

" _I can't believe you've still been selling yourself this short. Any guy out there would be lucky to have you. A good guy who can provide and love you, way better than that idiot in prison." Jean said, walking out of the living room as Vanessa followed._

" _Just stay out of my business. This friendship ended a long time ago." Vanessa said as Jean just nodded._

" _I thought maybe you'd have come to your senses." Jean said, "My daughter won't ever have to worry about the things your sons will have to worry about."_

" _Good for your daughter." Vanessa said, swinging the door closed on her face, shaking her head and walking down the hallway back into the kitchen, "Hey, you guys finished." She smiled to her sons, "High fives." She nodded, placing her hand up as both of them high fived her, "Yeah." She smiled as they laughed._

* * *

"So this could be her pure and simply just… thinking she's protecting Skyler from Dean and Anna… that their life isn't good enough for her?" AJ shrugged.

"I can't slap her but can you?" Punk asked his wife seriously as AJ just nodded.

"I wish." She said.

"Vanessa would have speared her through a wall if she was here." JC shook his head.

"I will tear her apart on that stand, don't worry." AJ nodded, "We just really need to be here for Dean and Anna right now. I can't imagine how they're feeling right now. It's unimaginable." She said, "And when court comes, I don't care what her reason is, she's not getting what she wants here." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded.

"And don't think you're off the hook." Punk looked at his father, "Mister self-defence." He scoffed as JC just made a face.

"It was. And it was in the past. Jean won't bring that up since she was part of it and she was there. That's why I didn't think it was relevant to tell you."

"We still deserved to know about something like that." Punk said.

"Boy, a lot of things happened back then you don't know about. Things you don't need to know about." He warned, "It doesn't matter right now, we need to focus on getting this baby back where she belongs." He said as AJ nodded in agreement.

"He's right." AJ said, "That's our only focus. She doesn't stand a chance. I don't care who she pays to get false evidence, false blood work from… she's not gonna win." She shook her head. She'd never taken a personal case, but she knew that she'd give it her all to get their niece back where she belonged with her parents, regardless of Jean's reasonings and the history behind it. She'd crossed a line that never should have been crossed with them.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	13. Question Time

**Question Time**

* * *

"Are you awake?" AJ whispered, lying in bed later that night, having not been able to sleep the entire time, wondering if her husband was awake so she could talk to him.

"Yeah." Punk nodded quietly, turning around from his back onto his side to face her as she turned her head.

"I can't sleep." She told him as Punk nodded.

"Me neither." He said, "I just can't stop thinking about Dean and Anna." He shook his head.

"Me neither." AJ said, "I just don't get it. I know that her reasons will never make sense for doing this, regardless, but why do this to your own daughter?"

"Because she's here. She's with Dean. She doesn't live in a fancy house with this great job like her mom probably expects her too. If my dad is telling the truth, it's why she stopped talking to my mom." Punk said.

"Or she stopped talking to them because your dad killed someone." AJ said.

"Well, that too." Punk nodded, "I would have done the same." He looked at her, "If you were in trouble, I would have helped you in any situation, and it's just unfortunate that it ended the way it did." He said, "But clearly it wasn't intentional." He said. He believed his father when he said that the death wasn't on purpose. He understood that things happened in the moment and that bad accidents like that can happen. He tried to put himself in his shoes and realised that he would have protected AJ the same way if it was him.

"At least… the only good thing we've got going right now is that she's safe." AJ nodded, "It's not like she's with a stranger."

"We don't know that." Punk said, "Nothing is gonna ease Anna and Dean right now. After all the shit they went through, and now this." He shook his head, "She's got a lot coming for her."

"Yeah." AJ nodded.

"And I don't want you to be hard on yourself with representing them." Punk told her, "If things don't go how it should go, that's not on you. Sometimes I think it'd be better if they got a different lawyer, because I don't want you to feel under any pressure, that's not fair." He said.

"I'm fine." AJ said, "I've been doing this for a lot of years. I've dealt with cases similar to this. She won't win." AJ nodded as Punk just smiled, "I never even got to see her." AJ sighed.

"I just got to see her for a second. She's really cute. Looks like Dean." Punk nodded as AJ smiled.

"Do you think she feels bad for how she treated your mom?" AJ asked, "I mean, she practically stopped behind friends with her because she was pregnant and with your dad."

"If she felt bad she wouldn't be taking her son's baby from him." Punk said, "I think she's still mad. If she's under this impression that my mom and dad ruined her life that night, and she's probably annoyed that my mom practically chose my dad over her-"

"It should never have to be a choice. Friends like that aren't friends." AJ said, "I wish your mom was here to give us her side of the story." She shook her head.

"Yeah, I wish she was here too." Punk sighed as AJ rubbed his arm, "I mean, it's clear though that she doesn't want Anna with Dean, so she certainly won't want her grandkid with him."

"So her solution is to just take the baby?" AJ said.

"Well it worked, didn't it?" Punk said, "Rich people like her, no one bats a fucking eye."

"They will when I call her out on the stand and make her feel an inch tall." She spat as Punk smiled.

"I've never saw you in court at work." Punk smiled, "Should I be scared?"

"Maybe." AJ nodded as he smiled.

"Did you look to see if Dean and Anna can visit Skyler?" He asked her.

"Yeah, well the problem is, they can only be granted a visit if… if Jean allows it." She shrugged, "So I'm gonna put in for it and see what happens. Maybe if she accepts then Anna could talk some sense into her, make her feel real bad. I'm sure whatever Dean has to say she won't care about but… Anna is still her daughter." AJ said.

"Her goal though is to have Anna move to New York with the baby and live with her parents. Anna won't go through with that obviously so it could be useless." Punk said, "What are you even gonna say in court? It's not like she's an evil woman, yes, she's evil in the sense she's taken a baby from her daughter but… she's not physically evil-"

"She is. She broke Anna's arm one time. I'm gonna throw that in there. I'm gonna throw the article that she wrote, proves that she never liked our family, never liked Dean, therefore she's doing this out of spite. I've got a lot to argue, don't you worry about that." AJ nodded.

"I just hope it doesn't drag out." Punk sighed, "I just couldn't imagine Keala or Frankie being taken from us like that."

"I know." AJ shook her head, it seemed like a literal nightmare happening, "Court will be in a few weeks. I'll press for a visit for now and see what they come back with." AJ nodded, listening as their bedroom slowly opened up as Punk sat up and turned the lamp on beside the bed, looking over at Keala standing with her glow bear.

"Hey." Punk shook his head, "What are you doing up?" He asked her as she walked into the room, shutting the door over and climbing up onto the bed, stepping on her father's leg accidentally in attempts to get in the middle of her parents, "That hurt." Punk moaned a little.

"Sorry." Keala said quietly, fixing a pillow in the centre as AJ watched her get under the covers.

"W-What are you doing?" AJ asked. She knew where her and Punk's late night conversation was heading, and she knew now that whatever they had planned wasn't going to happen with their daughter lying between them.

"I had a bad dream." She told them, lying down and tucking her glow bear under her arm.

"About what?" Punk asked her, sitting against the headboard whilst AJ lay beside Keala.

"Well a bad man came into our house and I was scared and couldn't find either of you." She told them.

"What bad man, baby?" AJ asked her, playing with her daughter's hair.

"I don't know. It was just a bad man. Like a monster." Keala said.

"Monsters aren't real." Punk told her as Keala looked up at him.

"This one was." Keala said, "I can't remember what happened after that." She admitted truthfully, "But it was still scary." She said.

"Well it's not gonna happen because monsters aren't real." Punk told her.

"Monsters are real, I think." Keala argued with him, "Like the monsters under the bed." She said, "I think they're real."

"Go look under our bed then." Punk said, "See if there's any monsters sitting around." He told her.

"No, I'm too scared." Keala shook her head as AJ smiled.

"Will I look?" Punk asked her.

"Yeah, you go." Keala pushed him off the bed a little as Punk got off the bed and crouched down, lifting up the sheet and sticking his head under the bed where ultimately, there was absolutely nothing there.

"Oh, hey." Punk said as Keala raised her eyebrows and immediately backed into her mother at the thought of her father talking to the monsters underneath, "You guys alright in here?" Punk spoke to nothing but the oxygen swarming around, "Yeah, well we might need you to move out, Keala is afraid of you guys under here."

"I told you." Keala whispered, knowing she was right all along as AJ just smiled and watched as her crazy husband pretended to talk to the monsters under the bed.

"You guys are friendly monsters, right?" Punk asked, of course getting no reply, "So you guys won't hurt Keala?" He asked as Keala watched closely, "Great. Have a nice sleep." He said, standing back up and getting into the bed as Keala looked at him.

"What did they look like?" Keala asked curiously.

"Ugly." Punk nodded, "They said you don't have to worry because they're moving out soon anyway." He shrugged.

"Why are they moving out?" Keala asked.

"Fed up, I guess." Punk shrugged, "They won't hurt you, though." He nodded as Keala folded her legs in a basket and put her glow bear in the middle, "When people die, where do they go?" Keala asked them as Punk turned to AJ and made a face. It wasn't the likeliest conversations with their daughter at such a late time of night, and it was a question that he didn't quite know how to answer. Similar to the 'where do babies come from' question, although that seemed more easy to bullshit around.

"Uh… when… when people die." Punk said, looking at AJ to help him out.

"They just get to chill out." AJ shrugged as Punk nodded.

"Chill out doing what?" Keala asked, "Is it true they go under the ground because that scares me? I don't want to chill down there." She told them as Punk smiled a little.

"Well, think of it like this, you're not really in your body anymore, so it doesn't matter where your body goes."

"So where am I?" Keala asked as Punk just narrowed his eyes at AJ.

"Well you can be a ghost." Punk shrugged, "Means you can just float about, see what's going on without anybody noticing you."

"Oh." Keala nodded, "Jackson told me that the bad people go under the ground into fire and the good people go up into the sky with the angels." She said, looking from her mother to her father.

"Everyone believes different things." AJ said, "It's up to you what you want to believe." She said, "And honestly, it's nothing for you to worry about right now." She nodded.

"Yeah." Punk agreed.

"Ok, now you need to tell me where babies come from." Keala said as Punk rolled his eyes.

"It's time you go back to bed." Punk said as AJ smiled.

"But Frankie was in mommy's tummy and then he was out just like that." Keala said, "It doesn't make sense." She huffed, "How was it in your tummy in the first place?" She asked AJ who just smiled.

"He just got there. I don't know." AJ shrugged.

"What if a baby just gets in my tummy?" Keala asked them.

"I can guarantee you that will not happen." Punk promised her.

"How do you know?" Keala asked.

"Trust me, I know." Punk said as Keala just nodded.

"The baby gets there when you're in love with someone." AJ told her.

"Not all the time." Punk disagreed as AJ turned to him and made a 'shut up' face, "No, you're right." Punk nodded, "Yes, you have to be in love and then the baby happens." Punk nodded, "What time is it?" He groaned, feeling like time had been standing still.

"So you had the baby because you love daddy." Keala said, "And if you didn't love daddy there'd be no Frankie?"

"Now we're getting somewhere." AJ nodded, "Yeah. There'd be no you either." She said.

"When can I have a boyfriend?" Keala asked them as Punk made a face and folded his arms.

"Never." Punk said as Keala gasped.

"Why not?" Keala asked, "I want one."

"Uh no you don't." Punk said, "Boys are disgusting and you should stay away from them." Punk nodded.

"You're a boy." Keala raised a brow.

"I'm a nice boy though." Punk smiled sweetly.

"You don't want a boyfriend until you're way older." AJ nodded.

"Preferably when I'm not around anymore." Punk said.

"Phil." AJ nipped him as Punk just shrugged.

"Can I have two boyfriends?" Keala asked as Punk looked at her and then turned to AJ.

"Can you stick something sharp into me?" Punk asked AJ who just smiled.

"Why would you want two boyfriends?" AJ laughed.

"I don't know." Keala shrugged.

"You're not having one boyfriend." Punk said, "Never mind two."

"Why can't I have a boyfriend?" Keala shook her head.

"You can. Just not any time soon." AJ said.

"May I remind you, you are seven." Punk nodded.

"I know what age I am." Keala said, "So I have to wait a while then?" She asked.

"A long while. Years and years actually." Punk emphasised as Keala just huffed, "I think it's time you get back to bed."

"Let me sleep in here." Keala said, climbing back under the covers in between them and lying down, hugging into her mother as Punk watched, "When can I really have a boyfriend?" Keala whispered to her mother.

"I heard that." Punk said as Keala kicked him under the covers with her little foot as he lay down.

"Don't you pay attention to boys, baby." AJ smiled, looking over to Punk who just shook his head and grumbled as he tried to close his eyes over. He knew what tonight's nightmare would be about anyway.


	14. Stick Together

**Stick Together**

* * *

"You'll never believe it. Keala was asking when she can have a boyfriend last night." Punk said, "And then she asked if she could have two." Punk shook his head, sitting in Dean's house whilst Frankie sat on the floor playing with some of the toys. Anna had just gotten home, and whilst AJ suggested that they take a few days as a couple to get their strength back up, Anna wanted to dive head first into preparing for court. It was the only thing keeping her from losing it.

"Hey, man." Punk said a little louder, realising his little brother wasn't even paying attention to him. He was just trying to take his mind off of things.

"What if she's not ok?" Dean turned to Punk. Anna was in the kitchen with AJ talking through some things, "What if she's not even looking after her properly. She was just born." He shook his head. He was finding it super hard. The contact with their daughter had been so abruptly cut from them, and both of them were struggling with the fact she wasn't even in the same state as them.

"You can't torture yourself like this. It's hard enough." Punk said, "Jean is a lot of things, we know that, but I don't think she's gonna hurt her or… not take care of her, so that shouldn't be on your mind." Punk nodded.

"Did dad come see you yesterday?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "Did he see you?" He asked.

"Yeah, told me all about what happened with him, mom and Jean." Dean said as Punk nodded, "What if she's doing this because she's pissed at mom? And she wants to get her revenge?" He asked as Punk just looked at him, "What?"

"I think it's more likely that she's doing this because she doesn't like Anna living here, and she thinks this will be the way to get Anna to come back to her and live with her."

"In the process of taking everything I love away from me?" Dean asked.

"Well obviously she won't win. AJ is gonna destroy her, trust me. She's not gonna get custody of her." Punk said. He knew at times like this it was his job to assure his brother.

"But she has the drug tests. I mean, we know they're bullshit but a judge won't." Dean said, "If he thinks me and Anna are both on drugs, we don't stand a chance."

"You do." Punk nodded, "Anna is gonna testify about how… erratic her mother's behaviour has always been. AJ is gonna get your old group mentor from AA to come testify, to prove that you've been sober from drugs and alcohol for six years." He said, "There are ways around this, trust me. It doesn't feel like it right now. I know right now you only care about getting your baby back, but you just gotta hold on for a little while." Punk nodded as Dean sighed, running his hand through his hair.

He was pale white and looked like he hadn't slept in years. Anna looked similar. But who could blame them after such an uprooting tragedy had taken place.

"Can we visit? Did AJ look into it?" Dean asked hopefully.

"Yeah, you're allowed visitation. It's an hour visit." Punk said as Dean just shook his head.

"This is ridiculous." Dean said, "So I gotta go all the way to New York to visit my own daughter, only for an hour?" He asked as Punk nodded, watching as he kicked the coffee table and stood up as Frankie got a fright and turned around.

"Hey, careful." Punk said, watching as Frankie's lip quivered and he began to cry, "Calm down." Punk told him, standing up and picking up Frankie, giving him a little cuddle and sitting back down with him as Dean began pacing.

"No, I can't just calm down." Dean said, "She's taken my kid. Me and Anna never even got a night with her. I've held her once. I've not fed her or changed her yet. She should be home in her nursery right now."

"I know. Look, man. I know that this is horrible-"

"You don't know. Your kids are at home with you." Dean corrected him.

"Ok, then I… I could only imagine what it feels like. But what Skyler needs right now is you to keep a cool head. Anything that happens, any sign that you're angry or violent… that will be used in court and it will favour Jean's side." Punk nodded, "You trust April, right?"

"Of course I do." Dean mumbled.

"Then trust her to help you. I know a few weeks seems like a lifetime, but just think in a few weeks, she'll be home with you. All you gotta do is keep strong, keep the hope." Punk nodded as Dean sighed, "You're a tough kid. I know it better than anyone. Anna's a strong girl too. You can push through this and you can… take that stupid bitch down in the process."

"I just hate her so much." Dean shook his head as Punk nodded, bouncing Frankie on his knee up and down as the one year old looked around and babbled things to himself.

"You and me both." Punk said.

"What do you reckon about mom and dad and all that shit that happened? I was sort of half paying attention to him… my mind was in the clouds I guess." Dean said.

"I think a lot of shit went down that we don't know about. And honestly, I don't wanna know. Mom and dad had a weird ass relationship, but… from what I heard, Jean was pretty controlling and pretty narrow minded. No time for poor people, and she didn't like what mom had to say. So… given that you, her son, ended up dating her daughter… probably rubs her the wrong way I guess, and plus she's never liked us." Punk shrugged.

"But is it really that deep to take my daughter?" Dean shook his head.

"Must be." Punk said, "Well, she said it herself, she wanted Anna to come back and live with her, be a part of the family business way back when she had the first miscarriage. This was obviously her plan from day one." He shook his head as Dean sighed.

"I just constantly feel on edge." Dean shook his head.

"I know, that'll pass. You'll feel better when you see her. I think AJ said it's up to you when you wanna visit her, obviously you'll want to give it a few days."

"Visit her for an hour." Dean nodded, "Not how I envisioned having a baby." He shook his head.

"It's gonna get better, man." Punk nodded as Dean just sighed.

Anna and AJ eventually came into the living room after chatting in the kitchen. AJ was going over what sort of things she was going to say and what sort of things she was going to ask Anna on the stand. She also wanted to advise her on what her mother's lawyers would ask her during the cross examination. AJ was taking it all very serious. It was very personal. The most personal case she'd ever had. This was her niece.

"Hi, baby." AJ whispered as she sat down beside Punk where Frankie immediately put his hands out to go to her as Anna smiled and watched as she took Frankie into his arms, blowing his little dark wispy hair out of his face as the one year old giggled.

"You know what's gonna go on?" Dean asked, watching as his girlfriend sat down beside him slowly. She was still super tired after being discharged from hospital.

"Yeah, AJ's explained it all to me." Anna said, hiding her hands in her sweater and sitting back on the couch, "I just would rather it be tomorrow than in a few weeks." She shook her head. It was incredibly hard as a mother, especially after two sad miscarriages, for them to be parted to soon from their baby girl. It hurt even more that it was her own mother who had done this to them. She would never ever forgive her, or forget it.

"I said it to Dean." Punk said, "I know it's easy for me to say, but you just gotta push through it and… and you'll get her. Keep a cool head. Don't give into any sort of anger that you feel. Your mother isn't gonna win this. I was around AJ when she was studying in law school. She scared me a little." Punk admitted as AJ smiled as did Anna and Dean.

"Yeah, me too." Dean scoffed.

"She'll take your mom down, piece by piece." Punk said as AJ nodded in agreement, "And Skyler will come home, you gotta tell yourself that." He said.

"I know it's just… it's hard." Anna said, "She's supposed to be my mom. She's a horrible person." Anna shook her head, "I mean I knew that but… hearing what she said to your mom, how she looked down on her, and then how she… how she looked down on you two." She looked from Dean to Punk, "Especially when your mom and dad helped her, when they didn't have to." She said, "I don't know what her problem is."

"She's pretentious and thinks about herself." AJ said, "That's her problem. She's also probably bitter about the fact she lost a best friend to a boyfriend and two sons." AJ nodded, "She's possessive. She was possessive with Vanessa and clearly very possessive of you." She nodded to Anna, "She probably thinks Skyler is hers to be possessive over now…. But… she's not getting that chance. Trust me." She said Anna nodded.

"When do you want to visit?" Dean asked Anna who sighed.

"I'd go tomorrow if I could." She sighed. But she knew her health had to be considered, "In a few days." She nodded, "I just… I hope it's not too hard to say goodbye. We only get an hour." She said as Punk nodded.

"Better than nothing." Dean shrugged as Anna nodded in agreement.

"Will Jean be there?" Punk asked AJ as Anna and Dean looked over.

"She might be." AJ said, "Honestly it's up to her. If she wants to be there to… supervise, she'll be there. If not then she won't. If she is there, please promise me that you both keep a cool head. You have no idea what context things can be used in court. If you don't think you have anything decent to say, stay quiet. Don't say anything." AJ said, "I know it'll be so hard to bite your tongue, but it'll benefit you in court, trust me." She said as they both nodded. They felt assured by AJ, especially with her legal knowledge of how things could go, and they appreciated her help.

"We appreciate the help." Dean nodded.

"You can thank me when she's home in a few weeks." She nodded positively as they both smiled, "What do you say we stay and order a pizza? I'll get Keala from school and pick it up on the way home?" She asked them. She knew that above anyting else, comfort and company was something Dean and Anna would need.

"Yeah, sure." Anna smiled.

"Maybe then me and Keala can have a chat about this boyfriend stuff." Dean said casually.

"Oh, don't." AJ said, "Phil almost died in his sleep last night because of it." She shook her head as Dean smiled. He was grateful for his family at this difficult time.

* * *

Later that night, Paige had gone to the car garage in hopes to find Dean. She wanted to see if he and Anna were holding up ok and if they needed her to do anything. Their relationship was very simple and casual, and she viewed Dean as a good friend, even though they shared a son. She thought it was dreadful what had happened with their newborn daughter and wanted to make sure they knew she was there to help.

CJ was with a friend, and so before picking him up she headed into the garage. She didn't suppose he would be there necessarily, but he didn't want to go to the house incase they didn't want to be disturbed, so she thought it was safer to try the garage.

She walked on in, saying hello to a few familiar faces and walking around the garage, being told that Dean wasn't there and was taking a few personal days. She nodded and headed off back out when she paused outside the office, hearing Sam on the phone. She was well aware of the problems Sam had created for Punk and Dean, more so Punk, but after hearing Dean's name, she stood against the half closed door and listened into the conversation.

"How is she doing?" Sam asked through the phone as Paige raised a brow, "I wish I could have saw the look on the brothers faces." He laughed as Paige tilted her head, "They think they'll win the case with the Puerto Rican lawyer." He said, "Idiots."

Paige stood in shock as she listened in, not believing her ears.

"No, you're right. She's better off with you. You can give her so much more stability, Jean." Sam nodded, as though talking to his master, "Think of the more quality of life she's going to have with you. It's really no custody war when it's like… comparing a lion with a rat." He laughed, "The sad thing is, they think they'll win." He said meanwhile Paige listened in to everything behind the door, placing her hand over her mouth.

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	15. Taking You Down

**Taking You Down**

* * *

Punk and AJ stayed at Dean and Anna's house for pizza along with the kids. They thought it was important that Dean and Anna didn't feel so alone at this time. It must have been so difficult for them, and they just wanted to be there for them. Keala was keeping them laughing and every now and then they spotted Anna giving Frankie a hug as he sat on her lap. It was unfair they had to go through this for no reason, but they had the support and love from their family, their real family.

Just as AJ and Punk were getting ready to leave, there was a knock at the front door which Anna offered to go answer.

AJ was helping Keala put her coat and converse on whilst Punk lifted up a sleeping Frankie from the couch into his arms.

"Hey, everyone." Paige nodded as she walked into the living room after Anna let her in and told her to go through. Dean looked up with confusion, and for a second he immediately thought something was wrong with CJ. His mind was in such a negative place that it automatically went there.

"Where is CJ?" Dean asked.

"He's staying with a friend." Paige nodded as Dean sighed, "I… I really wouldn't have come here and bothered you right now if I didn't think I had to." She said as Anna walked over to Dean as they looked on at her.

"You ok?" Dean asked her with confusion.

"I'm fine." Paige assured him, "But I went to the garage." She said, "I… It was stupid of me to assume you'd be there working, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you both… and that anything you need, I'll be there." She said as Anna smiled and nodded, "And then I… I heard Sam, your boss in his office." She said as Punk's facial features dropped as he looked over at her.

"Saying what?" Punk asked, passing Frankie to AJ who took their son in her arms slowly. Keala had wandered away out to the front door.

"I… I overheard him saying things like… it's what they deserve, she's safer with you… uh… they really think they're gonna win." Paige recited as Dean put his hands on his hips as Punk's nose twitched, "I definitely heard him say Jean." She nodded, "And that the custody war was like comparing a rat to a… lion." Paige said as Anna just shook her head.

"What… why would he be calling my mom and saying that?" Anna shook her head.

"I'm gonna kill him." Dean nodded, very seriously but very calmly also.

"It definitely sounded like they knew each other. I mean, he was calling her by her name." Paige shrugged, "I couldn't keep that to myself. I had to come tell you straight away." She nodded. She wasn't close to them by any means, but she had the decency and respect for her son's father, to come and tell him what she had heard.

"Thank you." Dean nodded to her.

"What the fuck is he playing at?" Punk spat, "Wasn't that beating enough for him? Does he want me to unleash dad on him?" He shook his head, "Fucking idiot won't be able to walk."

"But why would he do this? Why would he have my mom's number?" Anna asked, trying to find the sense in it all and avoid being angry. She just wanted answers at this point.

"Maybe your mom knows him and she's asked him to… I don't know, keep a look out." AJ added, "Seems fitting."

"Really? That little weasel?" Punk asked as AJ shrugged.

"Can we use this in court?" Anna asked.

"Judge might dismiss on relevance and… it's your mother's word against ours. She could easily say she was just talking with a friend." AJ shrugged.

"But she was talking about the case and taking Skyler from us." Anna said, "Surely that stands for something."

"I can… I can see what I can do, I could work it in somewhere I guess." AJ nodded. She was trying her best to present the best fight possible for Dean and Anna, and she felt a lot of pressure for it. She felt responsible now for getting their baby back and that was a lot to carry with.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come with better news." Paige said.

"No, thanks for telling us." Anna nodded.

"Anything I can do, just call." Paige said as Dean and Anna nodded, watching as she left the house out of the already opened door.

"Ignore all the shit going on around you. All the people all the talking." Punk nodded, "That's where she's gonna slip up." He said, "Right?" He turned to AJ who was still holding Frankie in her arms who was fast asleep.

"Yeah." AJ agreed, "It's just more we can throw at her. Ignore Sam. Both of you just continue to stay away from him. Play dumb." She told Punk and Dean who just nodded.

"Hey, where is Keala?" Punk asked AJ, noticing their daughter had disappeared from the living room, walking out into the hallway where she wasn't anywhere around, "Keal?" Punk called up the stairs as AJ walked out into the hallway, "Keala?" Punk called again, turning to AJ who just gulped.

"Where is she?" Dean asked, walking out into the hallway as Punk walked down the hall and out of the front door, opening up and sighing with relief as he saw her sitting on the front step, trying to draw on the steps with a stone she'd found.

"Who said you could come out here?" Punk asked her as Keala looked up, "Didn't you hear me?"

"No." Keala said, "I was just waiting for you to stop talking." Keala told him as AJ sighed with relief and shook her head as Dean just smiled.

"Stay inside for me, yeah?" Punk asked her as Keala just shrugged and nodded, standing up and dusting her hands off as they said goodbye to Dean and Anna.

* * *

"Early night?" Punk smiled, walking out of the bathroom in their bedroom after showering, walking around the room whilst AJ already lay in bed, her glasses on with some papers on her lap which were related to the case.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." AJ sighed to herself, placing the papers over onto the night stand, tilting her glasses down a little as she watched her husband drop his towel and pull some boxers on, "Little more awake now." She mumbled to herself as he gave her a smirk over his shoulder and collapsed back down beside her.

"I hope this isn't completely stressing you out." Punk said, turning to her as she just shook her head.

"No, I gotta do it." AJ nodded, "I'd be wrong to have another lawyer help them. It's my niece. I want her back here. I never even got to meet her." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"We'll get her back." Punk said, "I just… not that I'm thinking of the worst, and I'd never say this in front of Dean, but if this court case doesn't go the way you want it to, you don't get to feel guilty or responsible, ok?" He made sure she knew.

"She's not going to win." AJ said.

"I know, but… for a second let's say that something comes up, you know how unpredictable court can be. She's gonna lose, one way or the other, at one point, but… I don't want you to feel responsible for things not going right. That's way too heavy on your shoulders, and it's not your fault." Punk said as she nodded.

"I know. I know it wouldn't be my fault." AJ nodded, "I just… can't imagine how they're feeling, so if this is one thing I can do to help them, then I'm gonna do it." She said, "Just imagining waking up and Keala or Frankie being taken from us and… not being able to do anything about it…" She shook her head as Punk nodded, "I don't know how they're holding up so well."

"I think they're struggling." Punk said, "That's why I wanted to stay for dinner, just to… be there for them." Punk said, "And that stupid little dick in work is gonna get it-"

"No, he's not." AJ said, "Pretend Sam doesn't exist. I don't know what the deal is with him and Jean, but it's better we play dumb than go raising hell." She said, "Everything has consequences now. You need to behave too." She nodded.

"He deserves another beating." Punk moaned like a child.

"He'll get what he deserves, don't worry about that. But trust me, we're better off ignoring him completely." AJ said as Punk just sighed, "Honestly I'm more nervous about Anna and Dean going to New York to visit Skyler. I'm hoping Jean isn't there. I-I don't think they'd be able to hold back. And that'll mess up the case if something goes down." AJ said.

"Maybe one of us should go with them." Punk said, "Not to give them the impression that we're babysitting them but just to… make sure nothing happens." He shrugged as AJ nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea actually." AJ said, "You'd probably be best to go. You're good at calming people down. And I should stay here and work on the layout of things." She nodded.

"You be ok with the kids?" Punk asked her.

"You'll be gone for a night. I think I'll be ok." She smiled, cupping his cheek as he just shrugged.

"You know I don't think I've ever spent a night away from you or the kids, I mean besides our honeymoon… but I've never been on my own somewhere." He said as she frowned.

"Oh, baby. I'm sure you'll be ok." She smiled, "You lasted a few years without me before. You can do a night." She nodded.

"I don't think so." Punk moaned a little, shuffling over and resting his head on her lap as she smiled and played with his hair, massaging her hands through his head, "I feel like a shit brother." He admitted to her.

"What?" AJ shook her head, "Why?"

"I feel like I should be doing something to make a difference. And all I can do is just say everything will be ok, but… how do I even know that. When I was on death row, Dean was out there with you every day trying to prove a full justice system wrong. I feel like I'm not doing anything for him in return-"

"Hey, that is different." AJ said, "We had no choice, and you being on death row was a very different situation. Life or death type of situation. We're lucky we're not in that scenario and we have some hope. You being there for Dean is enough. It always will be. It's been that way since you were little, right?" She said as Punk nodded, "In this case, all you can do is just be there for them both and keep them cool. I know you might feel hopeless but… he doesn't need you to beat anyone up for him. As much as it may… help you a little, he just needs support and he's got it."

"He was so nervous about all of this." Punk sighed as she played with his hair, "He was nervous about having a daughter. A baby. And he's not even getting the chance to… to prove to himself he can do it. Which I know he can." Punk said, "I just think it sucks."

"Yeah, it does." AJ sighed, "But we'll take them down in court. The judge is gonna see that there is… no problem what so ever with Dean or Anna and she will grant them full custody. I know it." She nodded as Punk sighed.

"I hope so." Punk said, "I'd throw her and Sam into a pit of fire, piss in the opposite direction." He said as AJ raised her eyebrows and then nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, people who have way too much time on their hands to go out their way and… and ruin other people's lives. Especially your own daughter." She shook her head.

"What if it doesn't go well in court?" Punk asked her, "I've never even saw you in action in court." He realised.

"You're in for a treat." She smiled, "If everything goes the way I assume it will, it will go fine, we'll win the judge over. I see these cases all the time. The judge always thinks the best option is for the baby to be with the mother and father. There'd have to be real significant reasons not to grant custody-"

"Reasons like them being on drugs?" Punk said.

"Well, when Anna testifies I can present the judge with her medical files. You know they took blood throughout a pregnancy every now and then, I've got those reports which of course show no drugs in her system. Which makes it extremely suspicious that they all of a sudden appeared right at the birth." AJ said, "I've also got Dean's old AA mentor to testify to him being sober for six years." She said, "So the drug thing is… irrelevant to me at this point."

"Look at you go." Punk smiled, "I wouldn't wanna be the opposition."

"No, I wouldn't either." AJ shook her head, "These cases always annoy me anyway but… this is my niece. She's not taking her. She's not walking out there with any chip on her shoulder." AJ shook her head as Punk nodded, "I'm taking her down."

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think! Coming up: visit to New York with Punk, Dean and Anna. Will Jean be there? AJ works on the case. The case itself which of course won't go smoothly. What will happen?**


	16. Visit

**Visit**

* * *

"Ok. I've got pizza. I've got chips and dips. I have one soda and one juice box." AJ said, walking into the living room, balancing everything she'd announced as best she could whilst sporting some pyjama shorts and one of her husband's band t-shirts.

"Ok, sit it all down here." Keala said, getting up from the couch, pointing to the coffee table as AJ sat the pizza box down with the other things around it, "Is this pizza from Gino's?" Keala wondered as she looked at the pizza whilst AJ collapsed down on the couch.

"No, baby. Gino's was closed. He's refurbishing." AJ told him as Keala gasped sadly.

"That's so sad." Keala sighed, "So where is this one from?" She wondered, picking a slice up and hopping back up onto the couch beside her mother, in her pyjamas of course, with a blanket and her glow bear beside her.

"Uh… Delfinos I think it's called. Just down the street." AJ told her, "Did you pick a movie?" She asked her.

"Yeah, well it's either between the princess and the frog." Keala said, "Or Tangled." She said, "You decide." She told her mother whilst biting into the pizza.

"I do like Tangled." AJ nodded.

"Let's watch that then." Keala said as AJ put the movie on and flung the remote away beside her, leaning forward and grabbing a slice of pizza, laying back into the couch, finally relaxing for the night after a few days of stressful work.

Frankie was peacefully in his bed and her husband was in New York with Dean and Anna on their visit to see Skyler. She really hoped it all went well, and they'd really been keeping their head down and working on the case as a team, finding new and different things to say which may favour them in court in just a few short weeks. She just hoped that the visit would go well. Punk promised he'd give her a call later on that night.

"This is daddy's favourite too." Keala told her mother.

"Is it?" AJ shook her head, "I thought his favourite was the jungle book." AJ turned to her.

"Oh, maybe." Keala said, "He does like that one too." She nodded, "Where is daddy right now?" She wondered, finishing off her slice of pizza whilst AJ was already moving on to her second.

"He is with Uncle Dean and Anna seeing the new baby." AJ said. She wasn't going to lie to her daughter.

"Oh, but I want to see the new baby." Keala sighed sadly, "Why can't I see her?"

"Well she's not around here, she needed to be somewhere else so Uncle Dean is away to visit her, and daddy has gone with him. But she'll be home soon." AJ nodded.

"Good, because I'd like to see her." Keala said.

"Me too." AJ smiled, "She's your first girl cousin." She said, "I wish I had a bunch of cousins." She admitted truthfully.

"Why?" Keala asked.

"I don't know just… to have more friends, someone to play with." AJ nodded.

"Like me and CJ?" Keala asked.

"Yeah, exactly. Well CJ is baby Skyler's big brother. Like you're Frankie's big sister." AJ explained as Keala made an O with her mouth as she figured it out.

"Oh." Keala nodded slowly, "But mommy why didn't you have any cousins then?" Keala asked

"Well… I just didn't really know any of my family. I didn't know my aunts and uncles. I didn't even have a dad." She said as Keala looked at her like she was insane.

"You didn't have a daddy?" Keala asked, "The way I have my daddy?"

"No, I didn't have that." AJ shook her head as Keala looked upset.

"But why? That's not nice." Keala said.

"It's ok. Some people don't have daddy's. Some people don't have mommy's. And some people like you have both." She smiled.

"I'm lucky then." Keala nodded to herself, "I can't imagine not having my daddy." Keala sighed dramatically as AJ smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, you and me both, kid." AJ nodded, watching as she reached for another slice of pizza, "Ok, we need to listen because I forgot what happened." She said, looking on at the TV as Keala nodded, snuggling up beside her on the couch as she ate her pizza.

It was rare that they had a night where it was just the two of them. It made AJ realise how much she appreciated being a mom. Even through the tough times of temper tantrums, trying to find something to cook for them, helping with homework, being on time for things… that all didn't matter, because they had a bond that couldn't be broken and she was thankful for that.

In the back of her mind, however, was Dean and Anna getting to see their baby. She hoped it went accordingly and nothing went down.

* * *

Meanwhile in New York, Dean, Anna and Punk were on their way to go see Skyler. They were going to a hotel to see her which of course Jean had set up, and Anna was waiting in anticipation to see if her mother had the balls to actually show up and be present during the visit.

She was still very tired and sluggish from giving birth, but she really couldn't wait another minute to go see their baby girl, and neither could Dean. It just felt so unfair that this was the only time they were allowed to see her.

"Just… whatever you do, if she is in there, ignore her." Punk nodded, "Don't pay her any attention." He said as Anna just nodded.

They made their way to the hotel room which of course was the biggest suite in the place, knocking on the door where a woman opened up right away, introducing herself as a social worker, which they expected anyway.

They walked into the large room and thankfully, Jean was nowhere to be seen.

They were asked a few questions before finally, they got taken over to the little crib in the room where Skyler was in fast asleep. It had been a week since her birth and yet, she seemed so much bigger than what they remembered her.

Punk stood back a little to give Dean and Anna their own space and time, and he found it upsetting to watch. To see what it meant to them, yet this was all they had. An hour's visit with their own daughter. It just didn't seem fair.

"Hey, there." Anna smiled tearfully, picking up Skyler from the little crib, "Hey, you." She smiled, looking down at her as the baby girl opened her eyes, making soft little baby noises as Dean and Anna looked over her.

"Hey." Dean smiled, stroking her cheek softly. It seemed like everything had suddenly just disappeared when he was looking at her. All the drama and the sadness. It had disappeared when he saw her.

"She's so gorgeous." Anna whispered as Dean nodded, "Here, hold her." She insisted, passing her over to Dean who took her in his arms and smiled down at her. Not that they were being rude, but they were ignoring everything and everyone in the room. They couldn't help it. All they wanted was to care for their daughter. They hadn't even been given the slightest chance.

Punk smiled as he watched Dean and Anna spend time with Skyler. They sat down with her, spoke to her, spoke with each other about how gorgeous she was, and it made him smile because they deserved to see their own daughter. They deserved to take her home too, and look after her, but that was beside the point.

Just as he was about to approach them to say hello to his niece after giving them some time, the hotel door opened up where Jean walked through, of course dressed in her finest clothing from head to toe, her heels clicking on the wooden floor as she slowly walked into the room.

Punk watched her closely, trying to contain himself as she stood at one end of the room whilst Dean and Anna were at the opposite side.

"How long do they have left?" Jean asked the social worker.

"About fifteen minutes." The worker replied whilst Anna looked over at her mother, staring at one another for a few minutes before she stood up whilst Dean kept a hold of Skyler.

"You have some nerve showing your face." Anna shook her head as Jean rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Anna, don't act so surprised." Jean said, "Skyler is safer and let's face it, better off here." She nodded.

"She is not yours." Anna spat, getting closer to her as Punk began to get nervous, walking over to Anna to make sure she didn't do anything he thought she was going to do, "You don't get to just take her." She shook her head.

"Well I did." Jean shrugged, "And you can come back here. You can live here with us, be her mother, leave Chicago." She nodded, "But if you insist on living in that dump then… I have no choice but to fight for my granddaughters safety."

"She's safest with us." Anna said, "How can you do this to me?" She asked, "I'm your own daughter… I-I don't care if you hate Dean, but I love him, and he is Skyler's father. You can't change that and you can't change my mind either." She said as Dean stood over by the crib holding Skyler. He was glad he was because he knew he would just be tempted to get in Jean's face.

"You will not win at court, Anna. You know that?" Jean questioned.

"You're wrong." Anna shook her head, "I will win. And I will take my daughter to her home, where she'll be loved, not with money or success or materials… but by actual physical love. Something you never, ever understood." She said, "No wonder you pushed every single person away from you. Including Vanessa." She hissed as Jean raised her eyebrows, turning to Punk who just nodded.

"You and her best friends?" Punk asked, "How'd you think she'd feel if she knew this was what you were doing?"

"Vanessa is dead." Jean hissed, "So I don't care what she would have thought. She was just as stupid as all three of you standing here. Raised two sons, one who ended up on death row, one who ended up a drunk like his dad." Jean spat as Dean looked over at her, "This is what I am protecting my granddaughter from." She nodded as Punk shook his head.

"No." Punk shook his head, "You're filling that guilty conscience." He said, "That guilt you have for not taking care of your actual daughter properly." He said, "You think Skyler can replace her and you make up for all the horrible things you said and did." He nodded, "Well it's not gonna happen."

"And what? Your bipolar wife is gonna win the case over my very highly paid and skilled lawyers?" Jean laughed as Punk nodded.

"Yeah, she is. I'd be scared if I was you." Punk said as Jean just shook her head.

"I can't believe you're actually doing this to me." Anna shook her head, "That's my daughter. And you're taking her from me. What… What kind of mother does that?"

"One who wants to protect her granddaughter." Jean said.

"From what? She is safe with us." Anna said as Jean shook her head.

"No one is safe in that place." Jean shook her head as Punk watched her closely, "I am doing this for her own good. She should be here, with her real family, where she can be properly looked after."

"No." Anna shook her head, "She should be with her mom and dad." She spat, "I will never… ever forgive you for this." She made clear, "And when I take my baby home, after we get custody in court, you are dead to me." Anna nodded, tears in her eyes as Jean just looked at her.

"You have ten minutes left now." Jean told her smugly, "Make it count." She hissed, backing up and leaving the hotel room as Punk shook his head, wrapping his arm around Anna as she cried a little but quickly got herself together after a reassuring hug from Punk.

They made their way back to Dean and Skyler to finish off the visit whilst Punk thought about how glorious it was going to be when they got custody over Skyler. He knew Jean had just come into the room to show face and perhaps provoke Dean and Anna to say something that she could use against them in court, but they had kept their cool. Dean completely blanked her out and just focused on his daughter and Anna said as little as possible. They weren't going to tolerate her behaviour. They were going to do what they to do to get their daughter back. She meant so much.


	17. Court Part One

**Court Part One**

* * *

"Ok, look at me." AJ nodded, standing outside the court room with Dean and Anna, "You know what we've to say. Anything they say, we turn a blind eye to and we focus on our fight." She nodded, "Don't… whatever you do, don't get mad in front of the judge." She said, specifically looking at Dean who just nodded.

It had been a long few weeks without their newborn daughter. They were both finding it hard to carry on when they were being so unfairly treated.

"Where is Phil?" Dean asked.

"He's in the gallery with JC. You two need to sit up front with me." AJ explained, "When it's time for their witness, don't say anything, don't try and argue, don't interrupt… just stay quiet." She said as they both nodded.

"What if she… what if she says ridiculous things?" Anna asked.

"Then she'll say them. It's our job… my job, to prepare what we counter argue with. They will pounce on you up there during their cross on you." AJ said, "Just stay calm, answer truthfully, don't give into any pressure." She said.

"This is a lot more complicated than I thought it'd be." Anna sighed to herself, feeling horrible butterflies in her stomach.

"You'll be fine." AJ nodded, "We got this." She smiled herself, trying to ease them a little as she saw how nervous they both were. She used to be fine going into court. When she first started in her career she thought it was extremely nerve wracking and intimidating, but she'd got used to it by now. However, she felt those nervous jitters back, purely because it was personal, and meant more to her.

They eventually headed into the court room as the first part of the trial began. AJ reckoned it would really only take the one day for a custody trial, which meant they had to make it count.

The normal proceedings went ahead, the judge was informed of what had been the agreement so far, and then the witnesses were called.

"Mrs Brooks, your first witness." The female judge nodded as AJ stood up. It had taken her a while to get used to being called Mrs Brooks in the court room, but nevertheless, it had a nice ring.

"Your honour, I'd like to call Mr Frank Holland to the stand." She nodded, turning around to the gallery where an older man got up from his seat and made his way down the aisle and towards the stand. Whilst he took the oath, AJ glanced over to Punk who gave her a wink as she smiled and nodded, turning back around.

"Your witness, Mrs Brooks." The judge nodded, giving her the go ahead.

"Mr Holland, you were Mr Ambrose's AA mentor and have been for six years, correct?" AJ asked.

"Yeah." Frank nodded.

"What was it you treated Mr Ambrose for?" AJ asked, holding a sheet of paper in her hand whilst standing in front of the stand.

"He had a… an alcohol problem." Frank nodded.

"Not a drug problem?" AJ asked.

"No, but as part of the program we run, we cover all addictions, so with Dean we… we covered all the bases. But his main problem was alcohol." Frank said as AJ nodded.

"You keep in touch with Mr Ambrose and you said he is one of the most mentally prepared people you have ever met. What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Well he was very determined to get better and get his life back. And he did." Frank nodded, "He sees a problem and he knows he has to work on it."

"And he's been sober for six years? Correct?" AJ asked.

"Yes, that's correct." Frank said, "I keep a check on all the people I've worked with. Dean is one of them. He's never relapsed." He nodded.

"And as a father, how would you say Mr Ambrose would be?" AJ asked.

"Exceptional." Frank nodded bluntly as Dean smiled over to him.

"No further questions, your honour." AJ nodded, returning back to her seat at the desk whilst the opposing lawyer working for Jean who was present at the desk stood up.

"Ok, Mrs Katie Grant. Your cross." The judge nodded as Jean's lawyer stood out from behind the desk and made her way over to the stand.

"Mr Holland." Katie smiled, a very professional and sharply dressed women said, "How severe would you say the state was that Mr Ambrose came to you in on his first meeting?" She asked.

"It was bad." Frank nodded, "But… no one comes to see me in a good state on the first meeting, so it was normal for me." Frank said.

"In that moment, on that first meeting, would you say Mr Ambrose was in good health to take care of a baby?"

"Relevance, your honour." AJ stood up.

"Overruled." The judge dismissed AJ, "Please answer Mr Holland." She turned to Frank.

"No. He was not." Frank said truthfully as AJ looked down at her papers.

"He was an alcoholic, would you say that?" Katie asked.

"Yes. He was." Frank said.

"So would you be in full confidence to say that if Mr Ambrose were to relapse one day, he would be in no fit condition to care for a child?" Katie asked as Frank stayed silent for a few seconds.

"I don't think he would relapse." Frank said bluntly.

"If he were to, would he be fit to look after a child? Yes or no?" Katie asked.

"No, but he would-"

"That's all, your honour." Katie smiled and nodded, returning back to her seat as AJ sat her pen down, watching as Frank left the stand and returned back to his seat.

"Mrs Brooks… You're next witness?" The judge asked as AJ stood back up.

"I'd like to call Anna Ferris to the stand." AJ nodded as Anna stood up and headed on over to the stand, taking the oath as AJ got prepared.

"Miss Ferris, how did it feel when you found out your mother had taken your baby from you the same day you gave birth to her?" AJ asked as Anna sat at the stand and looked down for a second, mentally preparing herself.

"Devastated." Anna took a deep breath, "Like… like a part of me had been ripped out and stomped on." She nodded.

"How would you describe your relationship with your mother?" AJ asked.

"Hostile." Anna said, "She always tried to make me feel less than what I already did. She… was never there growing up. I… was raised by the dozens of house keepers and nanny's she would hire." She nodded, "She… broke my wrist one time after a work disagreement." She nodded as the judge narrowed her eyes over to Jean and her lawyer.

"How is this relevant to a custody trial, your honour?" Katie stood up.

"I'm not finished." AJ spat to her as Katie sat back down, "So your mother was never a…. mother to you?" AJ asked.

"No. It never felt like it." Anna said, "She would never attend school events. She was never happy with the things I wanted to achieve in life. She wasn't very supportive. She wasn't a mother." She shook her head.

"So do you feel at ease that it is her who is taking care of your newborn baby right now?" AJ asked.

"No. I don't." Anna said, "In fact, it's given me severe anxiety, to the point where I've been sick, over and over again." She said, making sure to look her mother in the eye, "Because my mother was never a mother to me, why would she be one to my daughter?" Anna asked as AJ nodded.

"So you're saying you don't think your daughter is in good hands with your mother?" AJ asked.

"No. I don't think she is." Anna said.

"Have you ever been on drugs?" AJ asked her.

"No. I have not." Anna nodded.

"Have you ever been tempted to do drugs?" AJ asked.

"No. I have not." Anna repeated, looking her mother in the eye, who already knew the answers to these questions.

"And did you take any drugs when you were pregnant?" AJ asked.

"No. I did not." Anna said as AJ nodded.

"Your honour…" AJ said, handing some sheets of paper to the judge and also to the opposing side, "I'd like to bring to your attention the blood work which Miss Ferris had done at her very last hospital appointment when she was pregnant. These are the blood tests that came back which show zero streams of drugs in her system. Now I find that a high coincidence that the second my client's mother decides to get custody over her granddaughter, that Miss Ferris here is suddenly only drugs." She said as the judge skimmed over the paper at the tests.

"Please continue, Mrs Brooks." The judge said as AJ nodded.

"How excited were you to have your first child?" AJ asked Anna.

"Very." Anna nodded, "After… two miscarriages. It was… It was like a miracle." She said, "And I was so excited to meet her and get to know her." Anna smiled, tears welling in her eyes, "And then my mom took that chance away from me." She said.

"Are you and your boyfriend fit to look after your daughter?" AJ asked.

"We are." Anna nodded.

"No further questions." AJ smiled softly, nodding to Anna to give her a little assurance as she returned back to her seat beside Dean.

"Ok, Mrs Grant. Your cross." The judge said as Katie stood up, smiling as she wandered around the table.

"Ok, Miss Ferris… how did you meet your boyfriend?" Katie smiled.

"Relevance?" AJ stood up.

"Sustained." The judge dismissed, "Answer, Miss Ferris." The judge nodded as AJ sat down and looked over.

"At a high school reunion." Anna shrugged.

"A high school reunion where you were on a work related mission as a journalist to find out information on the little brother of the guy who was on death row?" Katie smiled.

"This was when my mom was controlling me. She had me do that." Anna said calmly.

"How is your relationship with your dad?" Katie asked as Anna just shrugged.

"It's fine." Anna said, "He always worked abroad, so… honestly, I never saw much of him and I still don't." She nodded.

"So would you say your mother was the main provider for you?" Katie said.

"She was there but she never looked after me." Anna said, making sure not to let any questions catch her out.

"You tried to commit suicide when you were fifteen years old." Katie said as Anna gulped whilst AJ tilted her head, turning to Dean who looked just as confused, "Yes or no?" Katie asked.

Anna paused for a few minutes, looking down and sighing, "Yes." Anna nodded quietly as AJ placed her hand on her forehead and turned to Dean.

"Why didn't she say?" AJ gritted her teeth to Dean who was looking over at Anna.

"Why did you try and take your own life?" Katie asked.

"I had a… a severe eating disorder." Anna said, "Which my mom encouraged after constantly telling me I was gaining weight. She would even buy me a dress that was deliberately too small, and she'd change the label to make me think I was gaining weight." Anna nodded.

"But did your mother help you in hospital and get you back to full health? Did she provide the best care and treatment for you?"

"Yes, she did but-"

"And did she take you into her business and give you control over a lot of things?" Katie asked.

"She did." Anna nodded.

"Do you still struggle with your eating disorder?" Katie asked.

"Not as much as I used to. No." Anna said.

"That is not true, though? Is it?" Katie said, "You still seek counselling for your eating disorder, yes?" She asked.

"Yeah, because it helps me." Anna nodded.

"Because it's still an ongoing battle?" Katie asked, "An ongoing battle that sees you have emotional breakdowns, flutters of depression and anxiety and the lack of concentration which comes with caring for a baby?" Katie asked.

"No. I'm fine." Anna shook her head as AJ looked over and sighed.

"No further questions, your honour." Katie smiled, backing away and heading back to her seat as Anna stood down from the stand made her way back over to the desk where Dean immediately squeezed her hand.

"Your honour, I am… offended by the confidentiality broken in this court room this morning." AJ stood up, "And I am also offended that the topic of mental illness has been the diversion taken in this custody hearing. My clients have had their problems but the one thing that has been proven is that they have sought and are seeking help for that, which makes them completely stable to care for their daughter." AJ said, "I'd like to take a short recess before I call my next witness." AJ said.

"Ok." The judge nodded, "Fifteen minutes recess." She nodded, slamming the hammer down and standing up as the court room stood until she was out of sight.

"You should have told me this." AJ said calmly, turning to Anna as the court room began to spill out for the break.

"I didn't think she would bring that up." Anna's voice broke, looking over at her mother at the opposite side of the room, rage filling within her, wanting nothing more than to pounce on her mother, already feeling herself inch over to the other side.

"Don't." Dean said softly, standing in her way and taking a hold of her shoulders, "It's fine. Ok, we've still got time. It's just started." Dean nodded, "Right, AJ?"

"Yeah." AJ nodded, even though she was panicking a little, "It's ok. We're gonna be alright." She nodded to them both, "Go out and take a drink, some fresh air, it's not over yet." She assured them.


	18. Court Part Two

**Court Part Two**

* * *

"I'd like to call Paige Knight to the stand." AJ nodded, standing up from behind the desk, after taking their recess, watching as Paige headed on up to the stand to take the oath, making her way over to get ready to ask her questions.

"You share custody over your eight year old son with Mr Ambrose, correct?" AJ asked.

"Yeah." Paige nodded.

"How would you describe him as a father?" AJ asked.

"He's great." Paige nodded, "CJ loves him. He's never late or cancels on me. In fact, I think he would want to have him more if it wasn't for the fact I have to see him." Paige smiled a little, "He's a great father. And Anna is a great step mom too." Paige smiled.

"Has his drinking problem ever came in the way of his parenting?" AJ asked.

"No." Paige shook her head, "There has never been any problems." She said.

"Do you think he's fit to take care of a baby?" AJ asked her.

"Yeah I do." Paige nodded, "They both are."

"No further questions." AJ nodded, walking back over to the desk to take a seat whilst Katie stood up and headed over for her cross.

"Miss Knight, your son is eight years old, correct?" Katie asked.

"Yeah." Paige nodded.

"But Mr Ambrose has only been in his life since he was six. Care to explain?" Katie asked.

"Well I was in a difficult relationship before. And… when I got pregnant there was a lot going on with me and Dean. I never told him about CJ. So he didn't know." Paige made clear.

"A lot going on… you mean the fact his older brother was sitting on death row?" Katie asked.

Meanwhile Punk sat in the benches behind, folding his arms as he watched on with JC beside him. He had constant nerves in his stomach with every passing question that was asked.

"Yes." Paige nodded.

"Would you say that's something that still affects Mr Ambrose?" Katie asked.

"Well that's something you would have to ask him." Paige said, "I'm not inside his head." Paige said bluntly as AJ smiled to herself a little.

"Do you really trust him with your son? What if he relapsed and something happened to him? Would you forgive Mr Ambrose?"

"I trust him with our son." Paige nodded, "He got help when he needed it and he's been fine ever since. We have bumps on the road. We're all not perfect." Paige said, "But he is more than capable of looking after his own children. If you gave him the chance." She shook her head.

"Watch the tone, Miss Knight." The judge nodded as Paige just sunk back in the chair a little.

"Do you really think it's a stable environment for a baby to grow up in? With a clearly mentally challenged mother, an unstable father with the likeliness to turn to drink when faced with a problem, an equally mentally challenged aunt and an uncle who spent months on death row." Katie laughed a little.

"Excuse me." AJ stood up, "None of those issues are on trial right now. What is on trial is a plea for full custody on behalf of the biological parents who have been unfairly treated this entire time and who show absolutely zero signs of instability to care for their child." AJ said, "My mental illness certainly has nothing to do with it and I'm offended by the social and political issues that have been abused today in this court room." AJ said, "I find it ridiculous that these parents here have had one hour along with their daughter since she was born, when they are clearly more than capable of caring for her if given the chance to do so." She said.

"Mrs Brooks, calm down." The judge nodded to AJ.

"No further questions, your honour." Katie smiled, making her way back to the chair whilst Paige got down from the stand and headed back to her seat whilst AJ slowly sat back down.

"Ok." The judge said slowly, "Mrs Grant. Please call your first witness to the stand." She nodded.

"I'd like to call Jack Christopher Brooks to the stand, your honour." Katie stood up as Punk turned to JC who shook his head with confusion.

"That name was not on the list, your honour." AJ stood up.

"It was until the last minute." Katie turned to AJ.

"I was never informed about this witness." AJ objected.

"Well I sat the next copy on your desk before we began." Katie said, walking over to the desk and picking it up under AJ's scattered files, showing her it as AJ grabbed it and looked down at it.

"Please proceed." The judge nodded as JC groaned a little.

"I never have any luck in these damn places." JC whispered to Punk, standing up and walking down the aisle, opening up the gate and heading over to the stand, taking the oath and waiting for his questions which he was so unprepared for.

"Mr Brooks, how would you describe your son Dean?" Katie smiled as JC just shook his head, "We don't have all day."

"Dean is great." JC nodded, "He's got a good heart. Loves his family, stands up for them." JC said, "And he's a damn good father."

"Better than you were?" Katie asked.

"Relevance?" AJ asked loudly as the judge put her hand up.

"Overruled. Continue." The judge said as AJ rolled her eyes and sat back down.

"Yes. Better than I was." JC nodded, looking over at Jean who was glaring at him intensely.

"How would you describe your relationship with your sons?" Katie asked.

"Right now? Great." JC said bluntly.

"What about before? Let's say in their teen years." Katie smiled as JC looked over at Jean, knowing fine well she had set these questions up.

"I wasn't really around. I had my own problems which prevented me from being the father they needed me to be." JC nodded.

"How was your relationship with their mother?" Katie asked.

"Your honour, how is this relevant?" AJ stood up.

"Sustained." The judge nodded, "Mrs Grant, please move on with your questions." She agreed with AJ.

"Your honour this will make sense soon, I promise." Katie smiled, "If you're saying that you weren't around or you weren't the ideal father for your sons growing up, how do you think Dean will be able to learn how to be a good father then?" She asked.

"It comes natural to him." JC said, "Way more than it ever did with me. You're all very quick to say these things, but you don't know him, and you've not even gave him the chance to be a dad to his daughter. You took her just hours after she was born, so your arguments are all based on speculation." He said, "She deserves to be with her mother and father, and not her grandmother who is clearly just using her to feed into her own guilt of not being there for her daughter." JC spat, "Or her best friend." He added, looking directly at Jean who just turned away and looked at the ground.

"We have proof that you and your girlfriend at the time, your son's mother, had a hostile relationship, to the point where she filed a restraining order against you to stay away." Katie said.

"We had a… different relationship than most people." JC nodded.

"Different as in good?" Katie asked.

"Sometimes." JC nodded, "Has nothing to do with the custody, though." JC shrugged.

"No, maybe not. But we've found reason to believe that you foul played in your girlfriend's death." Katie said as the room fell silent as Dean and Punk both sat up in sync.

"What?" JC shook his head, "I was in prison you stupid bitch." JC spat.

"Mr Brooks." The judge scolded.

"You were in prison, that didn't mean you didn't have connections. She died in car accident. Witnesses to it said the car went directly for her."

"Your honour, this is ridiculous." AJ stood up, "This has nothing to do with the custody and it is not only disrespectful to my clients but disrespectful to the witness on the stand." AJ said as the judge nodded in agreement.

"I agree, Mrs Brooks." The judge said, "There is no correlation to what you are saying with this case, Mrs Grant." She said, "However, I'll have no choice but to look into it." She nodded as JC just shook his head and rubbed his forehead.

"I'd just like to point out that this is the family which this baby is going to be going to." Katie said, "When she could be safer and looked after much better with her grandmother." She said, "No further questions." She nodded, walking back to her desk as JC just sighed, looking at Jean who just glared at him, their own private stare down taking place.

"Mrs Brooks, your cross." The judge nodded.

"I have no further questions." AJ stood up, not having anything to ask JC that would have benefited them on their side.

"Ok, you're free to go." The judge nodded to JC who got off the stand and walked back to his seat, "Next witness." The judge said.

"Next witness I'd like to call to the stand is Mr Phillip Jack Brooks." Katie said as Punk just nodded.

"That was coming." Punk whispered, passing by his father as he headed down past the gate and onto the stand. He knew as soon as his father was called that he would most likely be too.

"Mr Brooks." Katie smiled, "Not foreign to a court room, are you?" She asked.

"No. I'm not." Punk nodded as AJ looked over nervously.

"Last time you were in a court, you were sentenced to your own death, correct?" Katie asked.

"Relevance?" AJ said tiredly, getting sick of hearing herself say the same thing over and over again.

"Move on Mrs Grant." The judge nodded.

"Is it true you got your brother a job in the same garage you work in after he was fired from his other job because of his drinking problem?" Katie asked.

"Yes." Punk nodded.

"Have you always babied your brother?" Katie asked.

"I've taken care of him. I didn't baby him." Punk nodded.

"When your mother died, did you feel your brother was your responsibility?" Katie asked.

"No. He's my brother. We looked out for each other." Punk said bluntly.

"When he met Anna, what was your reaction to that?" Katie asked.

"I was happy for him." Punk nodded.

"And when you found out they were having a baby, were you at all doubtful?" Katie asked.

"Not at all." Punk said.

"Don't you think your brother will struggle more due to the instability he's had all of his life?" Katie asked.

"I had the same instability and my two kids are fine." Punk shrugged, "There's no problem with my brother and Anna. The problem is with her." He pointed to Jean who just glared at him, "She's got her own issues and this is how she's dealing with them."

"You saw your brother when he was at his worst with his drinking problems. Would you have trusted him with a child then?"

"No, but that's not the point right now-"

"But you wouldn't have trusted him?" Katie asked.

"I wouldn't trust any drunk person with a child." Punk shrugged.

"So what would happen if Mr Ambrose relapsed into his old habits and Miss Ferris let her eating disorder take over her life again… do you think the baby would be in safe hands then? Or would she be better with Jean?" Katie asked as Punk just shook his head.

"None of that will happen." Punk said.

"But it's a possibility." Katie said, "Your honour, it is a possibility that these two very vulnerable people could end up losing their stability and who will suffer? That baby girl." Katie nodded, "No further questions." She said, walking back to her desk as the judge nodded.

"Mrs Brooks. Your cross." The judge said as AJ stood up.

"This is hardly appropriate." AJ whispered to herself, getting up and walking over to the stand as Punk watched her.

"No one knows your brother like you do, right?" AJ asked him as Punk nodded.

"That's right." Punk said.

"How much did they want this baby?" AJ asked him as Punk nodded.

"They really wanted her." Punk nodded, "They wanted to be her parents and they… they went through so much to finally have her and then… it was just taken away from them."

"Do you think the baby is safe with her grandmother?" AJ asked him.

"No. I don't." Punk said, "I think she has her own problems going on and this is just a way for her to deal with them. She can't give that girl what her own parents can give her. What her own parents haven't even been allowed to give her yet." Punk said, "And bringing my father and my mother into this was just a diversion to give the impression that this family is broken, or it's unstable… well it's not." Punk said, "There is no one that will love that little girl more than her parents and her family." He nodded, "No one." He made clear as AJ nodded.

"No further questions." She said quietly, nodding to Punk as he smiled to her, making her way back to the desk as Punk walked back to his seat behind.

"Ok." The judge nodded, "Well in these cases, the ideal scenario is for the baby to remain with her biological parents." She said, "But what I can't ignore are these blood tests which show cocaine usage, whether you think it's a coincidence or not, Mrs Brooks." The judge said, "I also can't ignore the fact that we are also dealing with Mental illness and alcoholism." She nodded.

"Which is being dealt with, your honour. I'm bipolar. I get help for it. No one takes my kids from me on the basis of that." AJ said.

"I'm not saying that's why, but… it's something we need to look at." The judge said, "Until I have more evidence that isn't just speculation and the fact I have no expert to corroborate that Miss Ferris and Mr Ambrose are fit to care for their child, I've decided to extend the initial custody of the child, where she'll remain in the care of her maternal grandmother." The judge nodded, "The petition for custody is denied." She nodded, banging the hammer down as AJ placed her hand on her forehead whilst Anna let go of tears and Dean placed his hands over his face.


	19. Court Aftermath

**Court Aftermath**

* * *

"April, c'mon you gotta open up." Punk said, sitting on the edge of the bed in their bedroom, looking on at their bathroom door which was shut tightly, and which had been shut since they practically got home from court. JC had volunteered to look after Keala and Frankie for the night, and Punk took him up on the offer, "You come out or I come in." He said bluntly, listening to the sound of silence from inside the bathroom.

"Ok, I'm coming in." Punk shrugged, walking over to the door and opening it up, looking over at AJ sitting on the edge of the bath, "Hey." He said softly. He knew it had been a long and disappointing day for her.

"Hi." AJ nodded, watching as he closed the bathroom door over and sat down on the closed toilet across from her.

"You alright?" He asked her as she just shrugged, "Look I know this wasn't the plan but… she's got money. We don't know who she's paid to say things, and she's just attacking the fact that Dean's had alcohol problems and her own daughter has had… her own problems. There wasn't anything you could say or have done differently. You know that, right?" Punk said.

"Maybe I just suck as a lawyer." AJ shook her head.

"April." Punk said, "Don't. You were amazing up there, just like you always are. Anna didn't tell you about her… eating disorder, which made it harder for you to counter it, and no one knew they were gonna call dad to the stand and practically blame him for my mom's death, which was of course, Jean's intention from the start." He said, "It was unpredictable and no one blames you for anything." Punk assured her.

"But they should have had her back." AJ whimpered a little, "What if that was us? Our baby?" She asked as Punk nodded, "Could you imagine not being able to… hold it, see it…" AJ said, "I thought I could bring her home to them but… I pushed her away." She shook her head, rubbing her forehead tiredly as Punk placed his hand on her knee.

"You did nothing wrong. The judge saw two parents who were being called out on their flaws, compared to a wealthy, successful and visually stable woman." Punk said, "It's not right, but she extended the custody on that basis. It'll go to court again and we'll come back fighting even more." Punk nodded.

"Anna and Dean probably won't want me to represent them." AJ shook her head.

"Of course they will. They trust you, and they need someone they can trust right now." Punk said, "You can't beat yourself up about this. I know she's our niece and I know that it's so obvious she should be with her parents, but we're not gonna give up. Dean and Anna certainly won't." He said.

"They just ripped on Dean the full time, and then accusing JC of your mom's death… there was no relevance to any of it." AJ shook her head.

"She wanted her lawyer to say that to him." Punk nodded, "You know the story. She hates my dad. Thinks he took her best friend from her." He shrugged, "But you're right, that is irrelevant. What's important is Skyler and getting her back, and we will." Punk nodded, "This is just a little bump."

"Does Dean hate me?" AJ asked worriedly.

"No, of course he doesn't hate you." Punk said, "April this is not your fault. We're dealing with a very horrible, conniving, manipulative woman. She's gonna try and work her way around everything." He said, "But she'll get caught out eventually." He nodded as AJ sighed, "It's gonna be ok." He nodded, standing up as she stood up too, falling into his embrace as he hugged her tightly. They all needed to lean on each other for the time being.

* * *

"Are they ok?" Lydia asked, watching as JC walked out of the spare bedroom in his apartment where Keala and Frankie were sleeping.

"Yeah, they're good." JC nodded. It had been a long day for him also, especially after being accused and brought into the spotlight of something that still affected him to the day: his ex girlfriend's death.

"It didn't go well today but that doesn't mean that it won't go well the next time. We can all have our problems but if we get help and we're stable, which Dean and Anna are, then they should be allowed to have their own daughter with them." She said as JC nodded, sitting down on the sofa beside her.

"She's a wicked woman. Always was." JC shook his head. It was more personal between her and Jean than it was with his son's. There was more history, more stories and secrets, and he knew that she wanted to publicly accuse him in front of the court today.

"But what she accused you of… it's impossible. You were in prison." Lydia said as JC nodded.

"Yeah, I was." JC said, "She thinks I still had a… connection." He said, "Which.. is ridiculous. I… I loved Vanessa. I would have never… hurt her like that, I would never have been mad at her to that extent. She… she raised my kids on her own, for crying out loud. Put up with my shit more than anyone else did." He said as Lydia smiled and looked at him.

"Miss her?" Lydia asked him.

"I… it feels wrong of me to say yes because we… we became so distant and… she became… not a part of my life, not the way she used to be. But… yeah, I do. I do miss her a lot." JC nodded, looking down at the ground, "No one believed I actually cared about her. It seemed ridiculous that a guy who… picked drugs and alcohol over her could actually say he cared. But I did." JC said.

"I wish I could have met her." Lydia smiled.

"Oh, she would have hated you." JC shook his head as Lydia laughed a little and looked at him.

"Why?" She laughed lightly.

"Bit of the jealous type she was." JC smiled, "But so was I, so it worked both ways." He shrugged, "She would have let you in on how horrible a boyfriend I am. I can imagine her right now." He nodded to himself.

"If she was alive would you have… got back with her?" Lydia asked. She wasn't an idiot, she knew she was with a man who was very much in love in a previous relationship. It didn't take a genius to figure it out.

"I don't think so." JC shook his head, "It was difficult for us. Even more difficult because we did love each other, and it wasn't just a fling." He nodded, "And now I'm being investigated for her death." He rolled his eyes as Lydia frowned.

" _Who is she?" Seventeen year old Vanessa asked, walking into JC's apartment where he lived with a foster brother who was barely there, "Huh?" She asked him, two months prior to finding out she was pregnant for the first time._

" _What are you talking about?" JC rolled his eyes, sitting down on the sofa amongst the mess._

" _Who is she?" Vanessa asked, "Jean said she saw you at the movies last night with your friends, and some girls… said you were getting awful comfortable with one of them."_

" _Jean says a lot of dumb shit." JC shook his head, reaching for the TV remote, pointing it over to the TV as Vanessa snatched it from him and threw it across the room as JC raised a brow and looked at her._

" _Just tell me who she is then." Vanessa shrugged, "It's simple."_

" _You… you are crazy." JC shook his head, "I thought you were coming over to chill and do me, not yell at me because you think I'm cheating on you-"_

" _Are you?" Vanessa asked._

" _No." JC scoffed, "Jean wants you to think that, because she hates me. No… no, she hates where I come from. She wants you and her to ride off into the sunset with rich boyfriends and really good degrees in some irrelevant shit, and have fancy lunch on a Tuesday at 2pm." JC said, "I wanna have pizza and fuck on a Tuesday at 2pm." He shrugged as Vanessa rolled her eyes, "And so do you, so don't roll your eyes."_

" _This isn't about Jean. This is about you hanging out with a bunch of girls who were apparently all over you." Vanessa said._

" _They weren't all over me. Do you honestly think I'd cheat on you?" He raised a brow as Vanessa folded her arms, "No way am I finding anyone better than you." He shook his head as Vanessa smiled a little looking down at the ground, "Stop being ridiculous."_

" _Just tell me their names then." Vanessa said in a softer tone as JC smiled up at her._

" _No, because then you'll go beat them up for just staring at me." He said, "Forget about them. They were for the rest of my single buddies." He shrugged._

" _Well they better have been." Vanessa said, kicking his foot a little as he kicked her back lightly as she smiled._

" _Stop being dramatic and sit down." He told her as she just shook her head, taking her jacket off and sitting down beside him._

" _Why do you hate Jean so much?" Vanessa asked curiously._

" _She's the one who has a problem with me. And I'm scared in case you two are lesbians." He admitted truthfully as Vanessa laughed._

" _She's like a sister to me. That would be weird." Vanessa laughed a little, "She just cares about me that's all."_

" _I don't think she does." JC told her truthfully, "I think she just cares about herself and what she needs. Has she considered the fact you actually like me?" He asked, "I know, you're a cheerleader, you have straight As, you're the prettiest looking thing America will ever see… and I'm… me." JC nodded as Vanessa just looked at him and shook her head._

" _I love you." Vanessa said, "And I think you're great. And handsome." She added as he smiled._

" _I love you too." JC smiled, "Now take off your clothes." He smirked as she hit him with a cushion._

" _Ok, now I hate you." She shook her head._

* * *

"You've not ate all day. You need to eat something." Anna said, looking over at Dean who was sat on the couch barely having touched any of the pizza they had ordered.

"I'm not hungry." Dean shook his head.

"You're gonna make yourself not well." Anna said.

They both found the day extremely tough of course, especially when the end result wasn't how they wanted. They hadn't lost hope, nor did they blame anyone but Jean for it happening, but it was still a terrible hard pill to swallow that their daughter still wouldn't get to come home, to her proper home for yet another few weeks, unless they pulled out something drastic.

"How much longer?" Dean shook his head, wiping his arm against his eyes, "Why is she doing this to us? And why didn't you ever tell me about your eating disorder?" He asked her.

"I don't know." Anna sighed, "Because it reminded me of my mom, and I didn't want to be reminded of that." She said, "I didn't think she would have the nerve to bring it up but she's as cold and calculous as what I thought she was so… she lived up to the expectations." She nodded, "it's not because I didn't want you to know. I just found it easier to deal with on my own." She said, "We're gonna get Skyler back, Dean." She sighed. At first she felt hopeless, and then she figured she had to fight for their baby girl. And it appeared that her and Dean were taking turns of being each other's support system.

"When?" Dean shrugged, "When she's five? Eight? 15?" Dean asked, "Whenever your mom gets fed up with her?" Dean shook his head, "How can one woman have that much power?" Dean shook his head.

"I-I don't know." Anna shook her head, "But she won't get away with it. She's… she's got money, that's why she's winning at this, but… she'll get caught out, just like AJ said." Anna nodded.

"No, I'm not… I'm not waiting around to get another trial just for us to be told no again. Our own daughter." Dean said, "She's playing people clearly. She's got a system. We know Sam is part of it. I think it's time we do our own investigating, see what the fuck she's really up to and who the hell is helping her with it all. Cause I'm not… I'm not waiting around. I'm not gonna have some stranger looking after my daughter. Ok?" Dean stood up.

"Ok, just… just calm down." Anna nodded.

"No I'm done waiting for this shit." Dean shook his head, "She's our daughter and we have a god damn right to look after her. Your mom is bullshit." He spat, getting to the end of his tether, "I'm not… I'm not waiting around anymore." He said.

"Dean, just wait a second-" Anna paused, looking over at her phone vibrating on the coffee table, picking it up and staring blankly at it, looking up at Dean.

"What?" Dean said.

"It's… it's my dad." Anna shook her head.


	20. Ghost Stories

**Ghost Stories**

* * *

Punk and AJ were sitting up on the couch later that night. AJ was falling asleep through exhaustion against her husband, feeling mentally and physically drained from the day they had, finding no other peaceful and safe place than her husband to rest against and fall asleep.

However, just as she was drifting off over the sound of a game show programme they had been watching, there was a loud knock at the door which caused them both to jump a little.

"Probably your dad changed his mind about watching the kids." AJ said as Punk smiled a little, standing up off the couch, shuffling by her and out of the living room as AJ listened in to see if she could hear who it was.

Punk walked out towards the door and unlocked it with the keys, opening it up as he saw Dean and Anna standing, watching as they both walked into the house without saying much.

"Ok." Punk shook his head, closing the door behind him and locking it back up as he followed them into the living room. He could see his brother was agitated and Anna had something to say.

"What's going on?" AJ asked, becoming more awake as she sat up.

"My dad wants to help." Anna said as AJ just shook her head.

"Your dad? I thought you didn't speak to your dad." She said as Punk sat down on the arm of the sofa.

"I… it's not I don't speak to him. He's just never in the country. He called me and said that… that he was going to fly to Chicago tomorrow and that he could help us." Anna nodded.

"Help by doing what?" Punk asked curiously.

"Well I imagine he knows everything my mom has been up to." Anna nodded, "So if we can maybe… get something to use in order to get another custody hearing. Sooner rather than later, that would be good."

"If your dad is never in the country, what is he gonna know?" AJ asked, "I know you two are… devastated with this… and clearly beside yourself, I would be too, but we can't just click our fingers and expect… magical witnesses and evidence to make way and make a difference." AJ said, "It's not how court works." She said.

"And you know how court works?" Dean asked bitterly, placing his hands on his hips as AJ looked over at him.

"I'd like to think I do. Yeah." AJ nodded.

"Well you didn't know how it works today, did you?" Dean said.

"Dean." Anna turned to him and shook her head.

"No." Dean said, "No, you know what… you could have asked more questions, you could have called Jean out more… you let them tear me to shreds up there." Dean shook his head.

"Hey, calm down." Punk stood up, "This isn't anyone's fault. AJ was kind enough and strong enough to take this case on for you because she wants to help, so just shut up. I know you're hurting, but this isn't her fault here." He warned.

"She has money." AJ stood up, "Which probably means she's bribing someone, she's got someone on her side helping her. We already know is Sam is doing some sort of spying for her." She shrugged.

"Exactly, so we think we should just… I don't know, do our own investigating, see what she's up to. I never got the impression my mom was doing anything illegal but… who knows what we could find and take her down with… or even threaten her with so she'll sign over custody." Anna shrugged.

"We could threaten her with that guy they killed." Dean wondered, "Say we'll go to the police."

"That guy that dad disposed the body of?" Punk made a face, "You're… Dean, you're not thinking right now and this is when something will trip us up and you'll lose her for good." He said.

"Don't fucking say that." Dean warned him, "I'm not… I'm not sitting back whilst some lunatic has my daughter and I've been labelled a drunk, and unstable to care for her when I've not even had the chance." He said, "I'm not… doing nothing." Dean vowed, "Not anymore." He shook his head as AJ looked across at him.

"You don't wanna get caught doing anything drastic. She will use that to get longer custody of her. Trust me. I've seen this before." AJ said.

"Well I'm not sitting back and doing nothing, April!" Dean yelled, "It's not your kid. Alright? It's mine. If this was Keala… or Frankie… and I was telling you to just sit back and wait, would you?" He asked her as she stayed silent, "I know you fucking wouldn't." He turned to his brother who just looked at him, "So quit telling me to. She should be home with us. We've already missed the first weeks of her life I'm not gonna miss anymore." He told them as AJ just sighed and folded her arms.

"What do you suggest we do?" AJ shrugged.

"We fucking research this bitch. See what she's up to. What she's been up to in the past. I figured if we can take her down for something else it makes _her_ unfit to care for a child, or if we find something we could use to threaten her, then she'll sign it over herself." Dean said, "And Anna's dad is coming so he might have something worth considering."

"And what happens when you find nothing? She's just a business woman with a lot of money." Punk shrugged, "She's the nice girl next door. We learned that from Dad. She's not a crook."

"How do you know that?" Dean said, "We don't know what she's doing behind doors. What money she gets from where. She's a journalist too, that's the best job to fuck up in." He nodded, "I need to do something. If I don't I'm… I'm scared I'm gonna…" He put his hand on his forehead as Punk looked at him, "I'm scared I'm gonna take a drink." He said truthfully as Punk sighed.

"You're stronger than that." Punk said, "You don't need that to get you through. We'll get her. She's not gonna stay with that woman. If this is… if you wanna do this, try and take her down as a person and not just as the woman with custody over your kid, I'm down… I just don't want us to get caught up in something ridiculous." He said, "Could we get away with this?" He turned to AJ.

"If we're careful." AJ nodded, "Yeah. We could."

"I wanna know more about her when she was friends with mom." Dean said, "I wanna know this bitch from the get go."

"Well, there's only one person who can give us that sort of information." Punk shrugged.

* * *

"God, this is like the fucking ghost stories at camp." JC shook his head, sitting down on his couch in his apartment where his two sons as well as Anna and AJ were sitting, all with coffee and some cookies that JC had put out, "What do you wanna know?" He asked them.

"What was Jean like in high school?" Dean asked him.

"She was… popular. Annoying." JC shrugged, "Your typical rich kid with typical rich kid standards. Which made it clear why she didn't like me." He said.

"But she liked mom?" Punk asked.

"Yeah. They were best friends since they were little. Went everywhere together. I don't know. There was never significant thing that I can pinpoint her doing… she just didn't like me, I think it was because Vanessa was paying more attention to me than her, but whatever." JC shrugged.

"Alright, calm down old man." Dean rolled his eyes as JC just made a face.

"So there wasn't any real heat between you? Not because of something that happened?" Anna asked.

"No. She just didn't like me." JC laughed a little, "And it wasn't even like it was because of that night. Because she hated me before then. Your mom told me that when she told her we were dating, she didn't talk to her for like a whole month she was that angry." JC shrugged, "I don't know what her problem was."

* * *

" _What are you doing later on?" Jean asked, standing in the girls locker room, watching as her best friend tied her shoe laces on the bench after their practice._

" _Well actually." Vanessa smirked, placing her foot back to the ground, "I got a date." She smiled, opening up her locker as Jean smiled and leaned against the lockers looking at her._

" _May I ask who?" Jean smiled, "You kept that quiet."_

" _Um… that boy… he's in our history class… well sometimes." She laughed a little, "His name is Jack but everyone calls him JC." She said as Jean looked at her and laughed a little._

" _No, who is it really?" Jean asked as Vanessa turned to her slowly._

" _Really, it's him." Vanessa said, "Why? What's the big deal?" She asked a little consciously._

" _Well he's a… junkie." Jean laughed, "I think he's in the system too." She raised her eyebrows._

" _He's not a junkie." Vanessa scoffed, "He just likes to have fun. Doesn't hurt anybody."_

" _Hurts his liver I bet." Jean shook her head as Vanessa smiled._

" _Why are you being my mom? Can't you be my best friend right now?" Vanessa asked, "I really like him, and I think he likes me." She shrugged._

" _How long have you been talking to him?" Jean asked._

" _A couple of weeks." Vanessa said, "I think he's really hot." She admitted truthfully, "And he's got a code name, how fucking cool is that-"_

" _You're a nerd." Jean shook her head, "He's not hot. He's scruffy and dirty."_

" _Exactly. Hot." Vanessa nodded._

" _Your problem is you like seeing problems and fixing them. Little boys like him can't be fixed. Just so you know." Jean said._

" _I don't want to fix him, there's nothing to fix." Vanessa said, "Why are you so weird about this? He's nice to me."_

" _Vanessa, look at where he comes from. He's a slob. Doesn't even have a proper home."_

" _What does that have to do with anything?" Vanessa asked angrily, "I know you… have money, Jean but… you don't have to be like that." She said, taking a little it of offence._

" _How do you know he doesn't just want in your pants. You're probably the prettiest girl in this school." Jean said._

" _He's already been in my pants and he wants to date so." Vanessa smiled and shrugged._

" _Wait… what?" Jean said, "You've slept with him already?"_

" _Don't say it like that as if I sleep around with everyone." Vanessa laughed, "We were at a party, we got talking, he drove me home and it… just happened."_

" _You're ridiculous." Jean shook her head._

" _Why? What is so wrong with that?" Vanessa asked, putting her backpack on and closing her locker after packing everything up._

" _You're already acting like a different person, I can sense it. And it's because of him. What if he makes you do drugs?"_

" _He won't." Vanessa said, "Why are you getting so mad with me?" She asked, getting angry herself._

" _Because you're an idiot and he's bad for you-"_

" _You've never even spoke to him." Vanessa scoffed._

" _I don't have to." Jean said, "I hear stories. He's bad news. And you're now… dating him?"_

" _He's not a bad person, Jean." Vanessa shook her head._

" _Oh, whatever. Don't come crying to me when he does something stupid. And make sure you're using condoms, you don't know what diseases he's got." She said._

" _Jean, wait. Why-Why are you being like this?" Vanessa asked, "You're my best friend. Don't… don't get mad at me because of a boy. We're better than that." She scoffed._

" _No you don't get it. You need to stay away from him." Jean shook her head._

" _What do you know here that I don't?" Vanessa asked, "What-What's so bad about him?" She laughed a little, "I'm not gonna ditch you if that's what you think-"_

" _That's not what I think." Jean shook her head, "You remember when I told you about… my parents business." She said, "And… how things… got a little out of control sometimes. A lot goes on behind closed doors that… some of it I still don't know-"_

" _Yeah, I remember you telling me." Vanessa said, "What about it?"_

" _My…" Jean shook her head, "My parents had… had his parents killed, because of… bad reflections on their company." She said as Vanessa tilted her head, "You cannot tell him any of that-"_

" _Wait what…" Vanessa made a face, "I thought your parents were journalists?"_

" _They are. They have their own business and they just… they do things a little differently." Jean said._

" _By killing people?" Vanessa shook her head._

" _Keep your voice down." Jean said, looking around the lockerroom, "This is why you can't get involved with him. If he finds out any of this then he will… well he's like a wild dog, he'll do something and I don't want you to get hurt-"_

" _His parents are dead because of your mom and dad?"_

" _No, it was just my dad. My mom runs the company, and she writes but my dad is the business man for it. He's never even in the country-"_

" _And you-you wanna be just like them? You always say that to me." Vanessa said, horrified to say the least, "Is that what you're gonna do? Take over the family business? Have people killed if it looks bad on the company?" She gritted her teeth._

" _No, I'm not like that." Jean shook her head._

" _You're… you're crazy." Vanessa shook her head, baffled to say the least, "I'm leaving, I'm gonna be late."_

" _Vanessa you can't tell him. I told you because I trust you-"_

" _You told me because you didn't have a choice and you don't want me near him." Vanessa spat._

" _I want you to be safe." Jean said as Vanessa just shook her head, not believing it._

" _I have to go." Vanessa said, walking off out of the locker room._

* * *

"So she wasn't shady in school?" Punk asked JC.

"No. Not that I know of. She just didn't like me. Didn't like the idea of me and your mom." JC said, "She was just a rich kid who wanted to follow in her family footsteps, got married to a douche… no offence." He looked to Anna who just shook her head

"So she's just a woman pissed that a guy stole her best friend from her?" AJ shrugged.

"If anyone knew anything about her it'd be Vanessa" JC shrugged.

"Well that's an option, dad." Dean rolled his eyes, "Someone that rich, with this much control, can't just be a simple journalist with a petty grudge from high school. I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it and I'm not having that be the reason that she's… taken my kid from me." Dean stood up.

"We should wait and see what your dad has to say." AJ nodded to Anna, "And then we can take it from there." She said as they just nodded.

* * *

 **A/N: I like the idea of the parents having drama as well as it tying in with the drama going on right now! If only Vanessa was still around to spill the tea. Let me know what you think! More to come.**


	21. Locked Away

**Locked Away**

* * *

"Hi Anna." Anna's father, Hal nodded, meeting Anna in a coffee shop the next day with Dean.

"Hi dad." Anna nodded. She'd been used to her father not being in her life since she was little. She didn't really know him if she was being completely honest. She knew of him, she knew his face and his background but… to call him dad felt strange. She wasn't bitter or angry about it. It was just something she had learned to accept over time, "This is Dean." Anna said, introducing Dean to her father as Dean just nodded to him.

"Hi, Dean. I'm Hal." Hal said politely, extending his hand as Dean shook it and nodded.

"Nice to meet you." Dean said.

"Why are you in Chicago, dad?" Anna asked, sitting down at the table as Hal sat across from them.

"To see you." Hal said simply, "I… I've been getting half-filled in on what's been going on here with you and your mother." Hal nodded, "I'm hurt you never even told me that you were having a baby, Anna." He said as Anna just looked down.

"I didn't… tell mom either if it makes you feel better." Anna said, "It… it was just something we kept really quiet and private."

"I'm your father." Hal said.

"You… aren't ever here, so… don't act like it was rude of me." Anna said firmly as Hal just nodded, "What has mom been saying?"

"Just that she wants you to come home. To New York. Pick your career back up. She's happy to sign over full custody to you if you come back home." Hal said.

"Well that's not going to happen." Anna shrugged, "Dad, can you please make sense of this to me… why… why can't she stand the thought of me being here and living here with Dean?"

"Chicago is… it's a tough place for your mom. Lot of bad things happened here." Hal said, "And your mother has just always wanted everyone around her to be well and truly taken care of, in her own ways of course." Hal said.

"Ok, fine. But taking my baby away from me is a bit drastic to prove that point, don't you think?" Anna asked.

"Your mother is crazy." Hal nodded, "Just because I work away doesn't mean I haven't noticed." He said as Dean looked on at him. He wasn't at all what he expected. He was a lot more laid back than he thought he'd be, which was a good thing, but he could see there was no real relationship between Anna and her father.

"So why'd you come here?" Dean asked impatiently.

"Well I…" Hal looked at him, "I just wanted to make sure that… whatever you're planning to do, you do not go after the company that me and your mother have worked extremely hard to keep running." He said sternly as Anna's facial features dropped whilst Dean glared at him, "I don't know what you're planning to do, but this does not need to become personal." He said.

"You've just gave yourself away." Anna smiled a little, "What are you hiding, dad?" Anna shook her head, "Or more importantly, what's mom hiding? I know it's really her business. You just married into it." Anna said, "What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on. Your mother is concerned about your safety here, as well as Skyler's, and I don't blame her. So she thought it'd be best to take her into her care, and hopefully you'll return back with us soon as well."

"Are you all on drugs?" Dean asked him, "You flew out here to side with a woman who has took your daughter's baby for absolutely no reason other than… she felt like it, and because you all have money, it's ok to do it." Dean said, "Here I was thinking you'd be decent." He laughed to himself.

"Dad, why?" Anna shook her head, "Why are you doing this? Why are you protecting?"

"I'm not protecting her from anything, sweetheart." Hal said, "I'm just warning you to keep your nose away. This is a sacred business and your mother only wants what's best for you. It might not seem like it but it's true. She just wants you back home, where we can be a family-"

"We were never a family. You were never there when she was… awful to me. You weren't there when I tried to kill myself. You weren't even there until weeks after." Anna shook her head.

"You were seeking attention, Annabelle. That was very clear." Hal shook his head.

"I had a severe eating disorder that my parents ignored… mom encouraged it actually." Anna said, "I can't believe I actually thought you were coming here to help me and… and tell me how wrong you think mom is being… but you're here to protect her and side with her." Anna said, "No one knows more about the business than you do and… and I know you know something, and that just makes me wanna find it out even more." Anna nodded.

"You shouldn't have even bothered coming." Dean shrugged.

"I wanted to try and help you see where your mother is coming from." Hal said.

"I will never… ever understand why she did this." Anna said firmly, "And I will never forgive her, and I won't forgive you either." Anna shook her head, "You're both dead to me, and I'll make sure my daughter will grow up knowing how disgusting you both are." She spat, standing up from the table.

"Annabelle, please. I'm just trying to help you. You shouldn't poke things that don't need poked." Hal said.

"We're done here." Anna shook her head, walking on by, out of the table and off to the door as Dean stood at the table looking at Hall.

"Tell your wife to enjoy looking after Skyler, because once we get her home, she's never gonna see her again. Ever." Dean made clear as Hal looked up at him, "And we will find out what you're so obviously trying to push us away from." He promised, walking on out of the coffee shop.

* * *

"Did you know Jean's husband?" Punk asked, later that night, gathered in JC's apartment again. CJ was playing with Keala on the tablet and Frankie was asleep in the spare bedroom whilst the rest of them shared out Chinese boxes in the living room around the couch and seats.

"No I didn't." JC shook his head, "He didn't go to our high school. I think she met him in college. Do you not know?" He asked Anna.

"I don't know anything." Anna shrugged. She felt like her whole family was just one big massive lie, which it was, but she always thought there was some good in them, and she actually thought her father was coming to help her, not push her further away.

"What do you know about the business?" AJ asked him, passing over some noodles to Punk after putting some on her plate, "Do you know how it was run back then?"

"No." JC said, "I told you, Jean didn't say anything about the business at school, and if she did, she would have said it to Vanessa."

"Well that isn't an option. You're the closest thing we have to that right now." Dean said, "Did mom ever tell you anything? Anything that you shouldn't have known?"

"No." JC said, "All I know is that it was a successful, wealthy business. It went public around the time Jean was born. It's been making big bucks ever since. Jean went in her families footsteps and now she runs it. That's all I know." JC said.

"When did it go public?" Dean asked him.

"Uh… must have been around the time I was born. Long time ago." JC scoffed, "I think you're all digging for something you aren't gonna find."

"No." Anna shook her head, "No, they're all right. There's something that she's scared about us finding out." She nodded, "My dad runs the business, the technical side of it, he would never just show up to tell me to stay away if there wasn't a significant reason."

"Let's say there is a reason then." JC said, "What could it be? We know she wants Skyler because she doesn't like me, which means she doesn't like Dean or Phil, and she wants you to go home and run the business with her." He said, "But what is she afraid of you finding out and using against her in court?" He asked, "What could be the possibilities?"

"Well…" AJ spoke up, "Often with big companies that go public there's… well there's the incidents that get swept under the rug." She said, "Could be illegal funding, some sort of bribery… worse." AJ said.

"You got any brothers or sisters?" JC asked Anna.

"No. I'm an only child." Anna said.

"Cousins? Any other family that isn't around that business but… would know about it?" JC asked.

"No. I… I was never introduced to any of my family. They're all scattered over the place and they don't… they're never together. I don't know any of my family." Anna told them.

"Say mom did know something." Punk said, "Wouldn't she have told you?" He asked his father.

"Probably not. Me and your mom were up and down like a yo yo. She probably didn't want to tell me anything, considering I hated Jean and would have loved to… rat her and her family out." JC shrugged, "If your mom knew something, she would have just turned a blind eye and moved on. She was good at it." JC nodded.

"Are your grandparents still alive?" Dean asked Anna.

"No." Anna shook her head, "They died a few years back." She told them, "Mom immediately took over with dad and… fitted right in."

"If your mom was letting you into the business, that would mean she would have had to tell you everything about it." Punk said, "Right?" He said as they nodded, "So why didn't she?"

"She didn't let me into the business." Anna said, "I done her dirty work for her. I done her… spying and late night copying, phone calls… I… she never let me into the business." Anna told them, "From where I've been standing all this time, I just thought my mom was a journalist in her own company and my dad ran the business side of it. It went public when my mom was just a baby, and that was it. I can't just magically whip up something for you to look into when there isn't anything there." Anna told them with frustration as Dean placed a hand on her knee.

"Ok, let's not all fight over it." JC warned them, "AJ is right, it could be something like illegal investments or bribery over the years, and if we find that out, Jean will be scared that we call her out on it in court. But we can't accuse anyone of anything when we have no evidence of any of it." He said.

"How about we just bluff?" Dean asked, "Give her a call, tell her we know her secret and if she doesn't sign over full custody then we'll take her to court with it… see how shaken up she gets it."

"She'll call our bluff, there's no point." JC said, "I know this woman. She was… conniving. Knows how to play people who are playing her." He nodded.

"Any way we could get into any emails she has? Do you know her address?" AJ asked Anna.

"No, she would never tell me that." Anna said.

"Didn't you question anything?" Punk asked her with confusion, "You were brought up in this business and you never asked about anything? How it's run?"

"No. I didn't want to ask." Anna said.

"Did mom have any other friends? She might have told something to?" Dean asked his father.

"No, she… her only real friend was Jean and then after that it was just me." JC said, "Forget about your mom for a second, she's… no offence, but she's no use to us with any of this." JC said as Punk and Dean just nodded, knowing that to be true.

"Do you know anyone working in the business that could give us information?" AJ asked Anna.

"No. I… I never knew any of them. And workers would never know anything. It's only the people high up that would know things and I… I was never allowed around that." She admitted. Hearing herself say things like that made her realise how shady the business her mother and father ran really was, and it made her nervous to know what it was they were hiding.

"Do you think it has anything to do with JC and your mom?" AJ asked, "The thing she is hiding?"

"Nah can't be." Dean said, "She just doesn't like JC, therefore she doesn't like me or Phil. Explains why she came after us so much in the paper those years ago. Explains why she doesn't want her daughter or her granddaughter around us." Dean shrugged, "Can't have anything to do with them." He said as AJ just nodded.

"Ok, I'm telling you all right now." JC said as they looked up at him, "We'll get Skyler back here, no matter what we've gotta do, who we've gotta talk to." JC nodded, "We need to help one another and accept the fact that it's not gonna happen overnight." He said, looking specifically at Dean and Anna, "I know you two are finding this unbearable, but it's not over. Not by a long shot. We'll find someone. Something… that will help us get her back and also take your mom down in the process." He said as Dean just nodded and Anna smiled softly.

"Look at you, being a dad." Punk nodded as JC just looked down and nodded.

* * *

" _Vanessa, where are you going looking like that?" Vanessa's mother, Kelly asked as she walked into her daughter's room where Vanessa sat on the edge of her bed, quickly shutting over the journal she wrote in every day._

" _Looking like what?" Vanessa tutted, looking at herself and not finding a problem._

" _I can almost see what you had for breakfast." Kelly folded her arms, looking at her daughter's outfit which consisted of a short denim skirt, a cropped band t-shirt and a leather jacket, "And the amount of make-up you have on is ridiculous." Kelly rolled her eyes._

" _Anything else, mother?" Vanessa asked, sitting her journal over on the night stand and standing up._

" _Just don't go standing at any street corners. People may get the wrong idea." Kelly told her as Vanessa just nodded, used to those type of comments, "Seriously, where are you going?"_

" _I'm going on a date, mom." Vanessa told her._

" _A date? With who may I ask?" Kelly asked._

" _A boy from school." Vanessa said._

" _There are a lot of boys in your school." Kelly nodded._

" _His name is Jack." Vanessa nodded._

" _And is Jack all you write about in that silly journal of yours?" Kelly asked as Vanessa looked at the book._

" _None of your business what I write in there." Vanessa said, immediately taking the journal, putting it inside a drawer and locking it with a key, throwing it in her purse as Kelly just laughed._

" _So you're sleeping with this boy?" Kelly asked._

" _What are you gonna do if I am?" Vanessa teased, zipping her purse back up as Kelly just shook her head._

" _Make sure you're being safe for starters." Kelly said._

" _Yes." Vanessa nodded._

" _What's his second name?" Kelly asked curiously whilst Vanessa began to creep out of her room._

" _Brooks." Vanessa said, "Gotta go." She said quickly, rushing out of her room._

" _Wait, Vanessa-" Kelly sighed as she heard her daughter quickly leave the house, slamming the door shut as she groaned to herself._

 _She shook her head and turned to the locked drawer where that journal was in, where she knew her daughter wrote everything. EVERYTHING. And wondered what could be so important and sacred in it, that her daughter had to lock the drawer._

* * *

 **A/N: Let me know what you think!**


	22. Happier

**Happier**

* * *

" _What is this?" JC asked, walking into his girlfriend's bedroom, picking up the book from her bed as she looked over._

" _Give me that." Vanessa said nervously, walking over to snatch it when JC side stepped around the bed with it._

" _What is it? Is it a diary?" JC smirked, "Is this where you write how much my eyes make you wanna marry me?" He fluttered his eyelashes._

" _Get over yourself, please." Vanessa scoffed, "But it's private and you should give me it." She said._

" _What if I just… wanna read a page or two?" He smiled, starting to open up the book as Vanessa jumped onto her bed to get to the other side, jumping on his back trying to get the book as he laughed a little._

" _Please give me it." Vanessa groaned, trying to choke him as he walked around the room with her on his back._

" _What are you afraid I'm gonna see?" JC laughed, trying to open up the book as she kept shutting it, trying to snatch it from him._

" _Nothing, it's just private and you should respect that." Vanessa whined, "Please." She begged._

" _Oh, alright." JC nodded, sensing her getting angry, handing it to her as she grabbed it and jumped down onto the ground, "I'll read it eventually."_

" _No you won't." Vanessa laughed to herself, throwing the journal in the drawer and locking it over without him noticing. Sometimes she regretted writing things down, but she felt it was her only way to cope with the things in her mind._

" _So what are we doing tonight then?" JC asked, collapsing down on her bed._

" _I thought we were going to the movies?" Vanessa asked him._

" _If that's what you want to do." JC nodded, looking over as the bedroom door opened, sitting up as he looked across at who he assumed was Vanessa's mom._

" _Mom. I thought you were working." Vanessa said._

" _I got away early." Kelly said, watching as JC stood up from the bed and stood behind Vanessa, "Shouldn't you be at school?" Kelly asked._

" _Free periods." Vanessa smiled, "Uh… this is… this is Jack. JC." She nodded._

" _Hey." JC nodded politely._

" _Hello." Kelly nodded, "You're the boy my daughter has been wearing short skirts for then?"_

" _Mom." Vanessa shook her head._

" _I like her skirts." JC smiled and nodded as Vanessa just rolled her eyes and looked down._

" _Yeah I bet." Kelly said, "I suppose you won't be having dinner here?"_

" _We're going to the movies." Vanessa said, "But thanks anyway." She said as Kelly just nodded, walking off out of the bedroom as Vanessa groaned._

" _Why do people look like they wanna kill me when they first see me?" JC asked Vanessa, grabbing his jacket from her bed._

" _No, that's just my mom's face." Vanessa shook her head, "I could marry royalty and she'd still find something to be unhappy about it." She said as JC just nodded._

" _Yeah, makes me glad I don't got a mom or dad." JC scoffed, putting his jacket on as Vanessa looked across at him and sighed._

" _How… How did they die?" Vanessa wondered. She wondered what side of the story he had gotten. She felt disgusted that she knew what really happened, yet she couldn't bring herself to tell him._

" _I… don't know." JC shrugged, "There's not much files on them. I think they were poor and… hung with the wrong people. I don't… to be honest I don't care." He told her as she just nodded._

" _Sorry, I just… I didn't know if you knew."_

" _It's ok." JC nodded, "But we should go if we wanna get the movie." He said as she nodded and smiled, kissing his cheek and walking out of the bedroom to leave the house._

* * *

"Build them up some more. Go on." Punk nodded, sitting on the floor in the living room of their house, watching as his son went around collecting all the blocks, trying to build them up and then knock them over, "One more go on." He said as Frankie placed another block on to the tower, "Ok, you can knock them over now." He said, watching as Frankie pushed the blocks away as they fell down, laughing to himself as Punk chuckled, "You're amused pretty easily, kid." He shook his head.

"Is that all he knows how to do?" Keala asked, sitting on the couch watching the TV.

"It's what he likes doing." Punk shrugged, "You done it when you were his age."

"No I didn't." Keala said.

"You did." Punk said.

"Is uncle Dean sad because he doesn't have his baby?" Keala asked, sitting further off the couch, swinging her legs back and forth as Punk looked over at her.

"W-What makes you say that?" Punk asked. He sometimes forgot she wasn't a small little kid anymore. She picked up on things, a lot of things.

"Well I still haven't saw the baby and uncle Dean looks upset, and Aunt Anna… why is the baby not there?" Keala frowned as Punk sighed, getting to his feet whilst Frankie continued to build his blocks.

"It's ok." Punk said first, sitting down beside her on the couch, "The baby is ok. She's… she's fine. Her name is Skyler. She's just had to go away for a little while but she's… she's gonna be here soon enough, and you're gonna get to see her." Punk nodded, "Uncle Dean is just upset because he misses her. The way I would miss you if you had to go away for a little while."

"Daddy I'm not gonna go away ever." Keala promised him as he smiled to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she leaned into him.

"That helps me out a lot, kid." Punk smiled, kissing her head.

"Unless I get a boyfriend." Keala teased as Punk loosened his grip on the hug and looked down at her, "Kidding." She smiled up at him as he just nodded, "I want to see Skyler soon." She nodded.

"You will." Punk nodded, "We all will. I promise." He smiled, kissing her head as Keala smiled.

"Frankie, why don't you play with something else?" Keala asked, getting off the couch and sitting down on the floor with her brother as the one year old watched his sister get more toys from the toy corner.

Punk smiled as he watched them. He felt blessed that he was able to watch them grow and be in their lives the way he always planned to be with his kids. Even though the war had been settled with him and his father, he still aspired to be so much better than him as a father, and be there for his children at all times. He couldn't even bear the thought of not being there for them when they needed him.

"Phil." AJ said, walking into the living room as Punk looked over at her, "Can I talk to you?" She asked him as he nodded, standing up, smiling on at the kids before following his wife out into the kitchen.

"What's up?" Punk asked her.

"So I was doing some thinking." AJ said as Punk looked over at the kitchen table where papers lay everywhere.

"Some?" Punk arched a brow, "I thought we were having a lazy day?" He asked her, "You're gonna make yourself sick."

"I'm fine." AJ assured him, "Do you know if your gran is still alive?" She asked him.

"My gran?" Punk shook his head.

"Yes, your mom's mom." AJ nodded.

"I… I don't know. I don't know the woman." Punk said truthfully, "Why?"

"Well, maybe your mom told her something about Jean. I don't know. I just have a feeling that your mom knew more than anyone let on to. Especially with how her and Jean's friendship ended." AJ said, "So… maybe if your gran is still alive, she might know something?"

"If my mom didn't tell my dad, she wouldn't have told anyone. She… she didn't get on with her mom."

"Doesn't mean her mom didn't find out something." AJ said, "I'm just thinking of all our options." She said, "If this is the route we wanna take, trying to go for Jean's company in order to get Skyler back, we have to start… making tracks someway." She nodded.

"I could ask my dad if she's still alive." Punk nodded.

"Yeah, do that." AJ said, "Anna text and said she got a list of all the investors in the business so… they're going through that just now." She nodded.

"Ok." Punk said, "I'll give my dad a call."

* * *

" _Where to?" The cab driver asked as JC got into the back of the cab outside of prison which he had just been released from after serving time for helping his teenage sons._

" _Uh…" JC paused, rubbing his hand up his tattooed arm, looking at the name weaved through the pattern and sighing, "Take me to Lockport cemetery." JC nodded, tracing is finger over the V and shaking his head, looking out the window at the prison, promising himself he would never be back in again._

 _The cab pulled away and eventually dropped him off at the cemetery. It was late at night, so the only thing up that lit up the dark cemetery was the street lights just outside. He didn't even know where to start looking, so he walked up and down the rows of headstones, his eyes skimming through all the names until finally he saw the name he wished he wasn't looking for, his breath stopping for a minute as he really couldn't believe this was where he was, looking on at a headstone with that name engraved in it._

 _He paused in front of the grave, crouching down and placing his hand over his mouth, tears welling in his eyes as he stared at the headstone name. Vanessa Ambrose._

" _I am so… so sorry." JC shook his head, placing his hand on the grass in front of him, "I'm sorry." He shook his head, his voice breaking as he looked down. No matter what had happened, his love for her had never, ever changed, she knew that and he knew that. He was suddenly filled with regret. Regret of not being what she deserved. For not being there when she needed him. For not appreciating her for the amazing person she was, for seeing him in the different light that no one else saw him._

" _You… You deserved so much better." He shook his head, drying his tears and standing up straight, turning his head as he saw a familiar face walk down the cemetery._

" _Thought you'd be here." Kelly nodded as JC shook his head, "I… I asked for your release date when I visited you to let you know about Vanessa." She said, "And I assumed you'd come straight here." She said._

" _Are my sons ok?" JC asked._

" _I think they're on their… fourth or fifth foster home." She nodded to him as he shook his head, "Goes to show how much she done for them… how much they meant to her. Those little boys." Kelly said, "You remember them as kids?"_

" _Yes." JC said, "Of course I do."_

" _You remember how much she loved them?" Kelly asked her, "And this is what she gets? This is what she gets for being a good person?"_

" _This wasn't my fault." JC said, his voice shaky and weak, still not really believing this was the reality. They hadn't been together for a long time, besides the occasion they would see each other, and the rare occasion he would secretly stay the night, but they'd became strangers very quickly._

" _I know it wasn't your fault." Kelly nodded, "It was a car accident. Could have been anyone. Five minutes later or earlier, could have been someone else's daughter." Kelly nodded, "But it was her."_

" _I don't know what to do." JC shook his head, "I-I can't believe she's really gone." He said._

" _No, me neither." Kelly nodded, looking over at the headstone, "She just…" She paused, her eyes welling with tears as she quickly dried them away, "She just wanted to see the best in people." She nodded as JC sighed, "I never understood that until… it was too late." She said, "I hope you know that she… she never stopped loving you." She shook her head as JC looked down at her, "It was always gonna be you." She nodded, "She never cared what people thought about her, about her choices, her life… she just… found something and if she loved it enough she'd work hard at it." She nodded as JC gulped._

" _I wish I could go back." JC shook his head._

" _We all have regrets." Kelly nodded, "But she was happy. She loved her kids, her job… and seeing you every now and then… she loved that too."_

" _She deserved more." JC said._

" _She did." Kelly nodded in agreement._

" _Should be me instead." JC mumbled._

" _You can't say that." Kelly said._

" _I can. She… she was needed here. I'm not." JC said._

" _You're needed here. You just don't know it. Those boys are like her. They're strong." Kelly said._

" _They won't want anything to do with me if I show my face." JC said._

" _Then just do what you've been doing this entire time. Keep your eye on them." Kelly said, "They have each other. They're stronger for it."_

" _They're just kids." JC shook his head._

" _They're Vanessa's kids. They've got thick skin." Kelly nodded._

" _I… I didn't even get to say a proper goodbye." JC said._

" _Now is your chance." She said, placing a hand on his arm as JC looked at it. It was the first time he'd saw her show him some sort of comfort, it wasn't much, but it was something._

 _He nodded, watching as she walked off, crouching back down in front of the headstone and sighing._

" _I…" He gulped, "I wish I could have been what you wanted." He whispered, "And I'm sorry that I… I wasn't there like you needed me to be." He said, "I promise you… I will… I'll protect those kids until I'm limping or… in a wheelchair or something." He laughed to himself, "I never… I never forgot about you or stopped loving you. I wish I could have told you that. But I trust you knew it anyway." He nodded, "I was so much happier with you." He said, swallowing the lump in his throat, standing up straight and drying his eyes, walking forward and rubbing the top of the headstone, backing away and walking off down the cemetery, throwing his hood up and drying his eyes._


	23. The Key

**The Key**

* * *

"This is where she lives?" Punk asked, approaching the house which JC had led he and AJ up to the next morning. Keala was at school and Frankie was with Colette for the morning. They thought it was best to leave Anna and Dean out of this trip since it easily could have been a waste of time, and they didn't want them to get their hopes up for something.

"Yeah, this is it." JC nodded, walking down the pathway and knocking on the door whilst AJ and Punk stood behind waiting.

Soon enough, the door swung open with an older woman standing, looking on as she recognised JC and raised her eyebrows. She hadn't saw him since the night he was released from prison at the cemetery. And it only took her one glance to the right to notice that one of her grandsons was also with her.

"Jack." Kelly tilted her head, "W-What… what are you doing here?" She asked him.

"Mind if we come in?" JC asked her.

"No, not at all." Kelly said, opening up the door wider and letting the three of them in, closing the door behind her and following them into the living room, "This wasn't a face I thought I'd see again." She admitted truthfully.

"Because you thought I would have OD'd or went back to prison?" JC asked her.

"Well." Kelly shrugged as JC just nodded, "I can't think for the life of me why you would come here."

"Well first… this is Phil, your grandson. Just incase you… shed a general thought about him or his brother." JC said as Punk just looked across at her.

"Hi, son." Kelly nodded to him.

"And his wife, April." JC nodded as Kelly nodded to AJ who just stood beside Punk closely.

"And what about the other one? The one who looks more like Vanessa? The second one?" She asked.

"He has a name." JC shook his head, "Dean."

"I knew his name." Kelly said, "Where is he?"

"Well, this is what it's about actually." JC nodded, "We're having a little custody problem. You remember Vanessa's best friend from high school? Jean?" He asked her.

"Of course I do. They were inseparable." Kelly smiled, "Like sisters. But like most, Vanessa pushed people away." She nodded.

"No. People left her because of me." JC said, "That's not important right now anyway." JC shook his head, "They had a nasty fall out, Jean has been bitter ever since, she's took my granddaughter away on full custody and she's getting away with it because she's rich and we're not." He shrugged, "I'm under the impression that Vanessa knew a lot about Jean but… she's quite obviously not here, so I thought we could come to you and see if… if Vanessa ever told you anything? Particularly about Jean and her family, her family business?" JC asked.

"Since when did you believe me and my daughter even spoke to each other?" Kelly asked, "She never spoke to anyone about anything." She shook her head.

"So she said nothing about… about Jean or anything about the family business?" JC asked.

"No. She didn't." Kelly said, "She was like a closed book, that girl." She shook her head, pausing for a second as JC just sighed and nodded.

"Ok, well it was worth a try." JC shrugged to Punk who just nodded.

"Wait." Kelly said as they turned around, "Wait here." She told them, rushing off out of the living room, heading upstairs as JC glanced to Punk. They heard ladders being moved around upstairs, so JC walked out to the bottom of the stairs.

"Need a hand?" JC cringed, she was an older woman, he didn't want her to fall and break a hip.

"I'm fine." Kelly assured, climbing back down from the atic holding a box, "It should be in here." She nodded to herself, walking back downstairs, "Here, take this." She said, handing the heavy box to JC.

"What is it?" JC asked, walking back into the living room with it as AJ and Punk watched.

"Well when Vanessa died, the boys moved out of the house, I cleared some things from it, most of it was Vanessa's. There wasn't a lot worth keeping but the things I thought were I stored in a box and sat them upstairs. Along with my other dead daughter's things." Kelly shook her head as JC sighed.

"Can we go through this?" JC asked her politely.

"When did you become so polite?" Kelly wondered, "And… is there really no red in your eye? Are you off the drugs?" She asked, examining him as Punk smiled a little.

"Yes ma'am." JC nodded.

"Ironic you get off them when she dies." Kelly rolled her eyes, "Go on, look through it. There should be a diary in there." She told them as Punk walked over with AJ.

They went through the box where it was mostly just photographs, sentimental things, a few gifts, some letters, he even found both his sons scan pictures which brought a lot back. It was things he wasn't surprised that Vanessa had kept.

"There. There it is." Kelly nodded as she watched them rummage through.

"I remember this." JC admitted, picking up the worn away diary, "She… she would lock it away in a drawer. No one got to see it." He nodded.

"Could be something about Jean in there." Kelly nodded to him, "Have a look."

"I…" JC looked at the diary, "She wouldn't want us looking through this." JC nodded.

"If it meant getting her granddaughter back?" Kelly raised a brow, placing her hands on her bony hips, "She'd do anything for her sons, so open it." She told him as JC just nodded.

"Hopefully she dated it so it narrows it down." JC nodded, opening up the diary, skimming through it to around the dates which he remembered they started dating, reading little parts here and there which made him laugh and smile.

"Anything?" Punk wondered, watching as his father looked over the diary, "Why would she write about something like that in there?" Punk asked, watching his father skim the pages, slowly walking over to the couch and taking a seat as he stayed focused on the one page.

"What is it?" AJ asked, noticing JC had gone a funny colour, double blinking a few times, trying to make sense of what he was reading. He would never doubt Vanessa and what she ever had to say, and so he knew what was in this book was the truth.

"Her… her parents killed mine." JC said quietly as Punk turned to AJ and made a face.

"What?" Punk shook his head with confusion.

"When it was going public. They killed my parents in the case of anything negative reflecting on the company." He said, "Jean… Jean told Vanessa." JC shook his head.

"Mom would have told you that… surely." Punk said.

"Well she didn't." JC said, "Her… her company killed my parents." He looked up at AJ and Punk whilst Kelly took a seat on the couch beside him.

"This is… this is crazy." AJ shook her head, "I was thinking illegal investments, fraud maybe even… not murder." Her voice squeaked, "Why your parents?" She asked.

"I don't know." JC said, "It sees here that Jean said they had to cancel out any people or things that reflected badly on the company for when they went public. My parents were obviously caught up in it and they just… killed them." JC shook his head.

"But… what has that got to do with Jean?" Punk asked, "If it was her parents?" He said.

"Well she obviously stuck by it, kept the secret, followed in their footsteps, and then told Vanessa. She probably thought that would make Vanessa stay away from me." JC said.

"This should be taken to the police." Kelly said.

"No. No one is doing anything." JC made clear. He wasn't hysterically upset and heartbroken, mainly because he didn't really know his parents, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt that they had actually been killed, and it further explained why Jean had always been so cold towards him.

"This is the threat we needed." AJ nodded as JC nodded in agreement with her.

"Wait… wait a minute." Punk said, "You didn't know a thing about this?" He asked JC.

"No." JC said, "I… they died when I was a baby. I was told they were bad people. Drug addicts and alcoholics. Maybe they were still, but no one told me they were murdered." He said, "And your mother never told me about this either. Says here she didn't want it to hurt me and she didn't want to betray a friend's trust." He looked down at the diary.

"I didn't think it'd be this bad." Punk admitted truthfully.

"Now we have something to hold against her now. This was clearly the type of thing she didn't want us to know. Now we can tell her to sign the custody over… or we… we go to the cops." She said.

"Yeah, she's done for now." JC nodded, "Do you mind if I take this?" He turned to Kelly.

"Oh, keep it. It just sits up there gathering dust anyway." Kelly said, "I'm glad it… served some sort of purpose. Trust Vanessa to leave behind something so key." She nodded, "I hope it works out for you all." She nodded.

* * *

After they got home to Punk and AJ's house, Dean and Anna came around where they explained what they had found out and how it could help them tremendously. It gave them more hope than ever, and Dean thanked his mother in a quiet corner for still helping them out even when she wasn't with them.

"So we just… we call her and we tell her we know this and if she doesn't sign over full custody then… then she's done for?" Anna asked. She was finding it a little hard to comprehend that the family business her mother was always so proud of, was actually dark and shady with a lot of secrets under the surface which had torn apart families and hurt people. She didn't regard herself as part of that family anymore. This was her family.

"I'll do everyone one better." JC stood up, "I'll go to New York and I'll look her in the eye and tell her." JC nodded, "This… in a way this has had nothing to do with any of you, maybe a little, but she's still scared of her past, that's what is going on here, and she thinks that if she can lure Anna back with her and Skyler, then we're out of her life for good." JC said, "But that's not what's gonna happen." He nodded.

"Is it really a good idea if you go see her?" Dean asked.

"I'm not gonna beat her." JC scoffed, "I just wanna talk. We've never got a chance to talk properly." He said, "I can get a quick flight out, be back by tonight with the custody signed over. Skyler should be with you both tomorrow if it works out." JC nodded as Dean took a deep breath with relief and nodded, wrapping an arm around Anna.

"As long as you be careful." Punk said, "If it's what you want to do." He nodded.

"Yeah." JC nodded, "I even got some reading material for the flight." He waved the diary in his hand as Punk and Dean smiled a little, "It's gonna work out now, I promise." He nodded.

He couldn't wait to look Jean in the eye and see her face when she found out that he knew.


	24. Revenge

**Revenge**

* * *

"Who are you?" A maid opened up the door of the large house where JC stood outside. He'd made it to New York. After talking with AJ, he knew what he was to do, and they knew the plan.

"Uh… friend of the family. Jean is expecting me." JC nodded as the maid looked at him.

"Very well." The maid nodded as JC stepped into the entrance of the house, "Mrs Ferris is inside the sitting area." She said, pointing to the right as JC nodded.

"Thank you." JC smiled, turning on his heel and walking down the hallway, walking into the large sitting area which was pretty much the size of he and Vanessa's full house. There was a roaring fire, book shelves as if they got read on the daily, an arch window looking out into the garden. It made him feel sick.

"W-What are you doing here?" Jean shook her head, standing up from the sofa as she saw JC walk into the lounge, looking across at her with a small smile on his face.

"You know… I don't think we've ever had a conversation just the two of us." JC smiled as Jean looked at him.

"Why are you here? On your own?" Jean wondered. If they were coming, she expected them all to be there.

"Scared?" JC smiled, "I'm not… I'm not here to hurt you, Jean. I'm a lot of things, I know that, but I'm not… I'm not a violent person."

"You killed someone. I watched you." Jean scoffed. She'd never been in a room with just him, and she wouldn't lie and say she wasn't scared, because she was.

"That was circumstantial. I was protecting Vanessa. She was protecting you." JC said, "Do you ever think about what she'd think of this right now? You taking her granddaughter? She was nothing but a good friend to you." He said.

"A good friend who chose her junkie boyfriend over me?" Jean laughed.

"She didn't choose anyone. There didn't have to be any choice. You just didn't like me and you wanted it to be a choice." JC said, "I spent all this time trying to figure out why you hated me. Besides the fact that Vanessa deserved better, at least we can agree on that, but why else did you not even look in my general direction?" He asked.

"You… you should not be here. You need to go." Jean nodded.

"I get it. You don't like where I come from. It's why you didn't want Vanessa near me. It's why you don't want my son near your daughter." He nodded, "But why else is it that when you hear my name… you get chills up your spine?" He smiled, stepping further towards her as she folded her arm.

"I just don't want my daughter around people like you. Scum." She said.

"No no no… there's more to it." JC shook his head, "You couldn't wait to write an article on the kid who was on death row, even more so because you got to butcher me in it. And you had your lawyer accuse me of Vanessa's death in court…. Now I'm being investigated by the FBI, thank you for that." JC nodded.

"Wouldn't be surprised if you did it." Jean shrugged.

"I was in prison." JC said, "And I loved my girlfriend. Maybe it didn't seem like it from the outside looking in, but I did. I loved her with all my heart. Part of me leaving her was because she didn't deserve what I put her through on a daily basis. And you can say you were right all along, but it didn't change how much I loved her or how much she loved me." JC said, "You're doing this out of your own guilt." JC nodded.

"My own guilt?" Jean laughed, "And what guilt do I have?" She smiled as JC looked her in the eyes.

"We know." JC nodded as she tilted her head, "We know all about it. Your company, when it went public, the need to have all bad reflections cancelled out… reflections like my own parents." He said as Jean looked at him, stiffening completely as she lost her breath for a second.

"W-What are you-"

"Talking about?" JC finished, "You know what I'm talking about." JC nodded, "This great company you run, when it went public when you were born, when I was born, your parents had my parents killed. For what reason, I don't know, bad connections maybe? That doesn't matter, what matters is I know about it. And I wonder what other things I could find out if I wanted to-"

"Stop it." Jean warned him, her stomach tightening with anxiety, "She told you… Vanessa… you knew all this time-"

"No." JC shook his head, "No, because she was such a good person, she wrote it in her diary instead. She didn't want to betray your trust and she didn't want to hurt me, so she wrote in her diary." JC nodded, "Every time you see me, think about me, every time you saw me with Vanessa… you were reminded by the cruel life you were living in with your company and your family… the cruel life that had my parents killed and put me in foster care." He said, "That's why you wanted Vanessa to stay away from me. And it's why you want Anna to stay away from Dean." He said as she just shook her head, not knowing what to say, "And then… then I done some thinking on the flight here." He nodded, "Why would you accuse me of Vanessa's death when you knew I was in prison, you knew I loved her more than anything… why would you want me to be found guilty of that…" He said, inching his way towards her, "Because you did it." He whispered as she looked at him, "You killed her." He nodded as Jean looked up at him, eyes glistening with tears, tears of guilt, "You were scared that one day she would tell someone about what she knew. You were just a scared teenager when you told her. You didn't mean it. And you wanted that anxiety to go away… so you killed her." JC said, "Tell me I'm wrong!" He yelled as Jean jumped.

* * *

"Michael? Hey, it's Phil." Punk said, sitting on the couch on his phone, "I'm good, man. Yeah." Punk nodded, talking to the detective who worked his death row case. Dean and Anna were sitting over on the chair whilst AJ stood over by the door.

"No, everything is good, man. I… well I actually wanted to ask a favour of you." Punk said, "Remember when you offered me that compensation, the money?" He asked, "Yeah. No… No I don't want it. I… I was actually thinking there was maybe a different way you could give me that compensation." He nodded, looking over at Dean who nodded, "You got connections with the FBI, right?" He asked, nodding along as AJ took a deep breath, "I'm gonna give you an address and a story. You're gonna wanna take it." He said, looking over at Anna who leaned against Dean.

"Where?" Punk repeated, "New York."

* * *

"What do you want?" Jean asked, glaring over at JC who had stepped back a little and got a hold of himself, "What do you want from me? Money?"

"I want my granddaughter." JC said, pulling out the piece of paper where she could sign over full custody to Dean and Anna, one AJ had given him as their lawyer, "That's it." He said, "Give me her, and I'll leave here, and you won't ever see me, or my sons, or your daughter for that matter, ever again." JC nodded, "I think that's me letting you off lightly, don't you think?" JC asked as Jean dried her eyes and nodded.

"Ok." Jean nodded. She'd been trained from a young age to always put her company first, and she'd been beaten at her own game. She'd accepted the defeat and she knew what she had to do to save herself and her own company.

"Ok." JC repeated with a smile, handing her over the piece of paper as he watched her frantically reach for a pen, sitting the paper down on the coffee table and scribbling her signature on the paper as JC smiled.

"Here." Jean nodded, handing the paper over to him as he took it gratefully, "I'll… I'll bring her to you tomorrow-"

"No, I take her home tonight." JC nodded, "Her mom and dad are waiting on her, they have been for weeks now." He said as Jean looked at him, "You give me her now, I leave, and that's it."

"How do I know you're not going to… to go to the police-"

"Well you don't." JC nodded, "But I just want my family to be ok. I think it's what Vanessa deserves above anything else." He said, "How could you do it?" He shook his head. He'd figured it out on the flight over to New York. It made perfect sense and he couldn't believe it, "You were her best friend-"

"We were best friends." Jean corrected him, "She chose other things and I… I had to protect my company." She said, "I didn't want to hurt her-"

"Hurt her?" JC laughed, "You fucking killed her." JC said, "My sons lost a mom. She… she deserved so much better than this." JC shook his head as Jean looked over at him.

"No, she deserved so much better than you. You were the problem in all of this. You were the one I wanted her to be protected from. You were the reason she lost her life-"

"No. No you were. I did nothing." JC said, "But it's fine because you'll live with that on your conscience for the rest of your life. I hope she gives you nightmares. I do." He nodded, "Go get me my granddaughter because I am… I am done here." He pointed to the both of them.

"Mary!" Jean yelled as the maid soon walked into the lounge, "Could you go get Skyler ready in her carrier?"

"Yes, miss." Mary the maid nodded, walking off as JC looked across at Jean, staring at one another intently. This was a woman who had not only taken his parents from him, but his girlfriend, someone he loved like no one else.

"See what could have been avoided if she just… listened to me." Jean shrugged.

"See what could have happened if you just… didn't kill people. You… you judge me for my life, the way I live, my addictions and my problems… you are the worst of the worst. Drove your own daughter to wanting to kill herself." JC said, "You're a cancer. I knew it. Vanessa eventually knew it. Your daughter knows it." He said, "And you'll get what you deserve at one point."

"I just wanted my family to be safe." Jean said.

"No, no you wanted control and power over situations, over people, your own family and your friends." JC said, "She cared about you. Vanessa. She clearly valued your trust, otherwise she would have told me about my parents and your company." He said, "And you… you had her killed. She was just… coming home from work, to see her sons, and you had her killed." He said, "Like she was nothing." He said as Jean looked across at him, "You're nothing." He reminded her.

"I give you my granddaughter and… and you don't say a thing to anyone about anything?" Jean asked, drying her eyes as JC looked across at her.

"Mhm." JC nodded, turning his head as he saw the maid walk in the room with little Skyler in her carrier, "Give me her." He demanded, walking over to the maid and taking the carrier from her, smiling down at the baby girl fast asleep, "Hey, there." He smiled, stroking her cheek softly as Jean looked on, broken and destroyed to say the least. The one thing that gave her leverage, was now not in her grips, her granddaughter. She had nothing now.

"Can I say goodbye?" Jean asked.

"No." JC told her immediately, holding the carrier by his side, "No, I'm taking her home now." He nodded, "With the poor people." He smirked as she glared at him, "Where she's gonna be loved, not by maids and servants… but by her family." He nodded, "You are not her family." He made clear, "I'll see myself out." He nodded, taking one final look at the broken woman in front of her before turning around and leaving the room with a smile on his face, walking out of the house, walking down the pathway until he got to his arranged cab.

He got into the back of the cab with Skyler, smiling as he sat the carrier beside him, looking on at her as she lay sleeping peacefully, "Man, you're cute." He smiled, stroking her cheek softly.

"Where to?" The driver asked.

"The airport but… wait a minute, man. Keep the meter running, whatever but… I just need to wait for a few minutes." He told him as the driver nodded.

He then pulled his phone out and called his oldest son, pressing his phone against his ear as he looked at the large house in front of him.

"Hey." Punk answered, "You got her?"

"Yeah I got her." JC smiled as he looked at Skyler, "She's great." He said, hearing Punk sigh with relief through the line, "You call him?"

"Yeah." Punk nodded, "You should get out of there. They'll be there any minute." Punk told him as JC nodded.

"Yeah, ok." JC said, "Tell Dean and Anna, Skyler will be with them soon." He said, "It's over now." He nodded as Punk nodded, hanging up on the call as JC put his phone back in his pocket, watching suddenly as the multiple FBI cars drew up to the house, Fed agents getting out as he chuckled quietly to himself and nodded.

"You can go now, buddy." JC said to the driver who nodded and pulled away from the house as JC watched the FBI cars continuing to draw up to the house, smiling to himself as he turned back to Skyler who was making soft noises as she left, "It's gonna be alright, kid." He smiled.


	25. Home

**Home**

* * *

Anna almost hit the ceiling when she heard the front door open later that night. They had been anxiously waiting at Punk and AJ's all day for JC to get back home. All they could think about was finally getting to hold their baby girl, take her home and look after her.

They all stood up in sync, watching as JC walked in the door with Skyler in his arms. Punk smiled to himself, wrapping his arm around AJ as she rested her head on his chest. It was the biggest feeling of relief ever.

"Oh my God." Anna whispered, not really believing that she was finally there with them, and she was all theirs to look after and take home, the way it should have been from the beginning.

"I think I have something that belongs to you both." JC smiled, walking over to them both as Dean and Anna crowded him immediately.

"Oh my Gosh." Anna repeated, "Hi.' She smiled tearfully with so much joy in her voice, clasping her hands over her mouth as she looked down at the baby girl who was awake, "Hi, baby." She smiled, almost feeling out of breath. It had been such a rollercoaster of emotions and she was so glad to see her daughter finally after so much waiting.

Dean smiled as he looked down at his daughter, looking into her sparkling blue eyes as she made soft little noises and wriggled a little in JC's arms. She was beautiful, and she was perfect, and he promised nothing could ever happen to her again, "She's amazing." Dean shook his head in disbelief. He finally felt like he could be her dad after so much waiting and uncertainty, and he couldn't wait to raise her with Anna, and finally be a family.

"Here, take her." JC smiled as Anna nodded, taking Skyler from JC into her own arms, smiling at the feeling of having the little bundle in her arms again, knowing they could take her home and put her in her nursery in the crib they'd bought in the room they had made for her. It was such a special feeling.

"Hey, princess." Dean whispered as Anna faced into him, both of them smiling and looking on at their baby girl as JC stood back and smiled to himself.

"How'd it go?" Punk asked JC who turned around and walked over to he and AJ, giving Dean and Anna their own time with Skyler, they deserved this moment for themselves.

"How'd you think?" JC asked him as Punk nodded, "Got what she deserved."

"What do you think the feds will do?" Punk asked him.

"They'll arrest her and she'll go to prison. Company will be shut down… and everyone will know about it." JC said, "It's what she deserves. She wasn't… she wasn't using Skyler because she wanted Anna back or she wanted her to be in a safer environment. She was using her as leverage." JC nodded.

"She'll get what she deserves." AJ nodded, looking over at Dean and Anna and smiling, "This is all that matters." She said as JC smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." JC nodded in agreement.

"Ok, I need to see her." AJ shook her head, not being able to wait any longer, wandering over to Dean and Anna, "Oh, hey." AJ whispered quietly, looking over at Skyler, smiling on at her, "Oh my God she's so perfect." AJ smiled to herself.

"Do you want to hold her?" Dean smiled.

"Of course." AJ nodded, cradling her arms out as Dean placed Skyler in them, "Oh, hi baby." AJ smiled, "I'm your aunt AJ." She said, "Yeah, I am." She nodded, stroking her cheek softly, "You're so cute, oh my gosh." AJ laughed a little, "I think you look just like your daddy." She nodded, "Yeah, I think you do." She nodded to her as Dean smiled.

"She does." Anna nodded in agreement whilst Punk made his way over to them. He still hadn't held his niece either and was desperate to meet her properly.

"Look." AJ smiled, "It's uncle Punk." She said as Punk smiled, "Here." AJ said, passing her over to Punk who got a little shot of holding her.

"Hey, sweetheart." Punk smiled, "I'm your favourite uncle." He said as the baby girl yawned.

"Look, she's bored of you already." Dean laughed a little as Punk just made a face.

"No, she's just tired." Punk smiled, "Huh? All that flying take it out of you?" He asked her, "You're so sweet." He smiled, pressing a kiss on her head and she wriggled her little legs, causing AJ to smile.

"Oh, don't. I want another one." AJ shook her head.

"Behave." Punk told her as she just smiled and leaned against his arm as they properly introduced themselves to the baby girl that meant so much.

* * *

They stayed at the house for a few hours with Skyler. Keala came home from school and got to meet her little cousin finally, Paige dropped CJ off too as he finally got to meet his little sister. Overall it was a special and heart-warming night to finally have Skyler back with her family where she should have been all along, and Dean felt obligated to thank someone in particular.

"Here, open those chips if you want." Punk said, passing a bag of chips to his father as they stood in the kitchen whilst Dean walked on in.

"How is she doing?" JC asked Dean, opening up the chips.

"Yeah, she's good. She's sleeping." Dean smiled. He felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders now that his daughter was back with them, "Keala loves her." He chuckled a little as Punk nodded.

"Tell me about it." Punk shook his head, "And I think my wife wants another baby now. Thank you."

"Always here to help." Dean nodded, "Hey, I just wanted to say thank you." He looked across at JC who looked up, "You didn't have to help us like this-"

"You're my son." JC said, "I did."

"No, you didn't." Dean said, "You didn't have to go out your way like you did. I guess I never… I still didn't believe you were really here, being our dad." He said, turning to Punk in agreement, "But… I feel like I have a dad now." He admitted truthfully, "I'm not saying you had to prove yourself but… you did it on your own and… you helped get her back and that's all that mattered to me." He nodded, "And I know you managed to settle some other things in the process, and that… bitch is finally where she belongs." He nodded as JC smiled.

"If only we could have a drink to celebrate" JC teased as Dean laughed a little.

"I'll do you both one better." Punk said, opening up the fridge and throwing them both two cans of pepsi.

"You still haven't told me why you have a pepsi tattoo by the way." JC remembered.

"I like pepsi." Punk shrugged as JC just shook his head, "I agree with Dean, though. You didn't have to help us like this. Even just being there for us would have been enough but you've… you've done more than that. You caught Ben. You helped me with Sam. You helped get Skyler back." He said, "And you done it all sober. I… I'm really proud of you." He nodded as JC just smiled to himself. He wouldn't say it, but this moment right here was one of the greatest moments of his life, standing with his sons who were actually proud to be his sons.

"I think mom would be proud right now." Dean smiled to him as JC just nodded.

"Hope so." JC said, smiling to them both, "Well hey, cheers." He raised his can of pepsi as they hit theirs off his, "What goes around always comes around." He said as Dean and Punk smiled and nodded.

* * *

"She asleep?" AJ asked, lying in bed later that night as Punk walked into the bedroom and shut the door over behind him.

"Yeah. She can't wait to go to school tomorrow and tell her friends about how cute her cousin." He smiled.

"Oh my God, I love her." AJ smiled as Punk nodded, climbing onto the bed and collapsing down beside her, "I'm so glad she's home." AJ nodded, "And that that witch got what she deserved." She shook her head as Punk nodded.

"Yeah. Good fucking riddance." He nodded, "I think it gave my dad a lot of peace now too." Punk said as AJ nodded.

"He looked real proud coming in with Skyler." AJ smiled, "I bet your mom would be so proud of him." She nodded, playing with his hair.

"Yeah." Punk smiled, "She would be." He nodded, "I'm just glad Skyler is with Dean and Anna now. That's all that matters." He said as AJ smiled and nodded, rolling over on to him as she straddled his hips as he smiled, "Hey, did you really mean it when you said you wanted another baby?" He was scared to ask.

"No." AJ smiled a little, "Not right now anyway. I just… she was so cute and I forgot how it felt holding a baby. Frankie is practically walking on his own now."

"Hey, maybe in a few years when we're bored." Punk nodded.

"Bored." AJ scoffed, "We'll find something to do I'm sure." AJ smiled.

"Each other." Punk nodded.

"My husband." AJ smiled, leaning down and pressing her lips against his as he kissed back, deepening the kiss as she quickly pulled back to take her t-shirt off which she had no bra on underneath, feeling his hands immediately cup her breasts as she leaned back down and pressed her lips against his.

He trailed the kiss down her neck and down her throat as he hooked his fingers in her shorts, pulling them down as she helped him out, pushing them away with her panties as she straddled him naked.

She giggled as he flipped them around where she was on her back and he was on top, watching as he stripped his t-shirt off and went back to her lips, kissing down her neck and throat as he began to kiss down her body slowly, trying to kiss down every visible part of her skin as she smirked and looked down, watching as he disappeared between her legs with a smile.

* * *

"Is she ok?" Anna smiled, watching as Dean came out of the nursery, "CJ is asleep." She nodded.

"Yeah, she's good." Dean smiled, "Main question is, are you ok?" He laughed a little, walking across the hall with her into their bedroom, "It's been a long couple of weeks." He said.

"Yeah." Anna nodded, "I'm ok. I mean… I know it's my mom and she's… probably… well, she is going to prison but… that's… that's on her. She took my kid from me to use her as some sort of bate." She said, "She deserves prison for what she's done, what she's hidden… no one can tell me different." She said as Dean nodded, "I'm just happy that we have our baby back." She admitted with a smile. It felt surreal but so right to finally have their precious baby girl, a somewhat miracle, back with them and in her own home.

"Yeah. Me too." Dean smiled, "I think my dad really likes her." He laughed a little, stripping his t-shirt off as Anna smiled.

"Your dad, the hero." Anna smiled, "He's very unaware of… the help he's actually given you both. He might not be the perfect father but he… he tries." Anna nodded, "He really does."

"Yeah I know." Dean said, "We talked today. The three of us." Dean nodded, "It… it felt nice. It felt like we… we were actually a family." He said, "Just wish mom could have seen it, she would have lived for that shit." He smiled to himself.

"I know you don't believe in it but… I think she's still with you." Anna nodded, walking over to him, "I mean… she practically helped us in all of this with the diary. Without that… we wouldn't have been able to take my mom down." She said as Dean nodded, "I say she's still keeping an eye on you both." She said as Dean smiled, "Where is the diary anyway?"

"I think my dad has it." Dean said, "You know there is just one thing I'm still… uneasy about." He told her, "I know we've got Skyler back and… that's all that matters but… what about Sam?" He asked, "What… why was he talking to your mom and what did he have to do with this? It's been playing on my mind." He said.

"You could always ask him." Anna said.

"I'm sure that will go well." Dean said.

"It's worth a try." Anna nodded, "While we're on a roll, we could figure out what that pesky little worm has been up to aswell." She shrugged as Dean laughed a little.

"Now we're suddenly all detectives? I love it." Dean smiled as she nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I… I don't care about anything else other than our daughter being back with us. That's all that matters. Anything else that happens is just a bonus." She said as Dean smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." Dean said, "I love you." He smiled.

"I love you too." Anna nodded, pressing a kiss on his lips softly.


	26. Resume

**Resume**

* * *

"So what's the deal? We just go and scare him?" Dean asked, standing outside the garage with his dad and brother a week later after closing time, smoking a cigarette as Punk took it from him and threw it on the ground, "Hey, I'm only allowed to do it out here when Anna can't see me." He said.

"No, just don't do it at all." Punk said as JC just chuckled a little at them and their still childish behaviour.

"Just ask him what he had to do with it all." JC nodded, "Did you see the news this morning?" He asked them.

"I got a seven year old and a one year old. I barely get to breathe in the morning." Punk reminded him as JC nodded.

"Yeah, I don't watch no news." Dean shook his head.

"Well if you did, you'd see they've arrested Jean. She's going to prison for a long time." JC nodded, "Apparently they found illegal investments like AJ had said, as well as the murders." He nodded, "Stupid bitch gets what she deserves." He shook his head as Dean and Punk just smiled to each other, "Ok, let's go I have better thing to do with my night than this." He shook his head, pushing them both forward as they walked into the garage.

They walked through the empty garage and into the office through the back where Sam was sitting, watching as he spun around on his chair and instantly rolled his eyes.

"Oh, what's this?" Sam asked, "This-This isn't where you get to blackmail me for pay rises or anything like that." He warned.

"We don't want a pay rise." Punk shook his head, closing the office door over as Sam looked at the three of them, "We wanna know how you know Jean Ferris, and what you had to do with her taking my niece." He said as Sam gulped and looked at the three of them. They were all individually terrifying for their own reasons. He still remembered the harsh beating Punk had given him which still gave him nightmares. JC looked like a serial killer standing behind and Dean looked like a lunatic ready to pounce beside. They were quite the trio.

"I… I had nothing to do with it." Sam shook his head, trying to act dumb.

"You did." Dean said, "My son's mom overheard you talking to her on the phone so… don't play the fool." He shook his head as Sam gulped.

"We're not gonna hurt you Sam." JC laughed, "Chill out."

"I'm her cousin." Sam said, "She… she asked me just to keep an eye on you, tell me when… when Anna had the baby." He nodded as Dean grunted towards him.

"You're her cousin?" Punk made a face.

"Yeah, out of the woodwork. Anna doesn't know me." Sam said, "I don't want no trouble." He assured them. He knew where he stood with them.

"Good." JC nodded, "Because this is what's gonna happen now." He said, "You're gonna quit this job. Immediately." He said as Sam raised his eyebrows, "You're gonna quit this job so my sons don't have to look at your weasel face a day longer. And not just because you worked with that bitch… but for being a perverted racist too. We can't forget that." JC said.

"But… but this is my job." Sam said.

"Won't be for much longer." Punk said, "If you don't quit, I go to the police and I tell them about those racist remarks you made about my wife, about my kids, and I also tell them about the naked pictures that you threatened her with, I also could tell them about your conspiring with a woman who is now going to prison for a very long time." He said as Sam gulped, "It's… it's your decision of course." He nodded.

"You bastards." Sam spat, looking at the three of them.

"You're the bastard." Dean said, "You're lucky we're letting you walk out of here and not wheel on a wheelchair." He warned, "Consider this your last night working here. If you're here tomorrow morning, we go to the police." He smiled smugly as Sam just shook his head and grumbled.

"Fine." Sam said, knowing he couldn't have them going to the police, "Fine I'll… I'll leave." He nodded as Punk smiled.

"Good." Punk said, "Enjoy your last night then." He nodded, patting Sam on the back who flinched a little, leaving the office one by one as Sam shook his head, kicking the cabinet beside him.

* * *

"He got what he deserved." Punk said, sitting at the dinner with his family later on, feeding his son the spaghetti that AJ had made. He was getting to an age where he wanted to do it by himself, but sometimes it just resulted in the dinner on the kitchen floor which was never good.

"I hope you didn't act like a thug though." AJ said, sitting across beside Keala who was eating her spaghetti whilst doing her homework.

"No, never." Punk said, "I asked him to politely leave." Punk shrugged as AJ just hmm'd.

"Did you see all the shit they found on Jean?" AJ smiled as Keala turned her and looked up at her, "I'm not putting money in that swear jar, ok?" She said as Keala just shook her head, "That's only for daddy." She smiled, looking over at Punk who just shook his head.

"Yeah, my dad told us." Punk nodded, "It's what she deserves." He shook his head, giving Frankie his own little spoon after he got mad that he couldn't feed himself, "Fine, you do it." Punk said, giving him the spoon as AJ watched their soon dive into the spaghetti.

"He almost walked on his own today." AJ said, "He had a little hobble and then fell down but I really thought he was off." She admitted as Punk smiled.

"Won't be long." Punk nodded, "You back at work tomorrow?"

"Yeah I've got a case. Meeting my client in the morning." She nodded, "How did Dean say Skyler is?" She asked.

"Good." Punk nodded, "He's super attached already. It's nice to see." Punk nodded, feeling a bit of spaghetti hit his arm, looking on it hanging from him and then looking at his son who giggled a little, "Why is it always me?" Punk asked himself.

"You're funnier to annoy." AJ shrugged, sniggering a little.

"Can someone tell me what five times 9 is?" Keala looked at them both as Punk cleaned his arm.

"Well do you know what five times 8 is?" Punk asked her.

"Uh…" Keala looked at her work book, "Yeah, it says 40." Keala said.

"So add 5 onto 40." AJ told her.

"45?" Keala asked them.

"Genius." Punk nodded as Keala scribbled down the answer, causing Punk to smile.

"I know five times ten, that's easy." Keala nodded to herself as Punk smiled watching her.

Life had very quickly resumed back to normal. It was only healthy for it to resume to normal. As long as the family were all well and safe, then things could carry on just as they were before, only now there seemed to be a lot of wounds that could start healing now. Wounds that hadn't even been opened yet. It was nice just to have his family all safe and well, together for each other.

* * *

"Hey." JC smiled, letting Lydia into his apartment as she walked on in.

"Hey." Lydia smiled, "You don't normally demand to see me at such late times." She teased as he just smiled and nodded.

"Yeah I wanted to talk to you actually. That's why I text." He said as Lydia turned to him.

"What's wrong?" Lydia asked.

"Nothing." JC nodded, "Well… I just…" He looked across at her, "This… isn't working for me, Lydia." JC said as she looked up at him and then quickly looked down at the ground, "You're great. Too great. And you've really helped me with… with getting clean finally. And I love being around you." He told her honestly, "But I don't think I'm looking for a relationship right now." He admitted. He'd been doing a lot of thinking about it and he didn't think he had the time to dedicate to a relationship, and he also just didn't feel like his head was really in it, nor was his heart.

"If… if that's how you feel." Lydia nodded, "I thought we were doing good." She admitted truthfully.

"We were." Lydia said immediately, "This isn't anything you've done… or even anything I've done. I just… my head isn't in it. I got two sons who… I'm focused on being a good dad for them, and it's unfair of me to… to treat you as second best." He said, "I got four grandkids too who… I wanna be around all the time but then I feel guilty because I know you probably don't want them around-"

"Of course I do." Lydia said.

"You just say that to be nice." JC scoffed, "And then there's the age gap. I mean you… you said you wanted kids… I… I'm sorry to be blunt but… I'm not gonna have kids with you." He told her honestly as Lydia just nodded and smiled.

"I… I respect your honesty." Lydia said. She really did appreciate him being honest with her. It was rare to find with men.

"I do care about you." JC told her truthfully, "But… it's just not gonna work out." He told her honestly as she nodded.

"Ok." Lydia nodded, "I… I understand." She smiled, blinking her tears away, "I… I hope things go well with your family." She nodded, drying her eyes.

"We can still be friends." JC sighed as Lydia just smiled at him.

"That's just the polite thing to say, right?" Lydia said as JC nodded, "It's ok." She assured him, leaning up and kissing his cheek as he smiled lightly, watching her as she walked off and out of the apartment, sighing to himself.

He did care about her but he felt in his heart that it wasn't going to go anywhere and that his mind was barely even in the relationship. He wanted to focus on his family, now that he finally felt like he somewhat had one.

He walked back over to the couch, collapsing down and picking up Vanessa's diary to read some more of it like he did every night. When he read it, he felt like she was talking to him, and he liked that.

* * *

 **A/N: How long will things stay simple? Who knows… Thanks for the reviews!**


	27. They Are Ok

**They Are Ok**

* * *

"Hi, Chiquita." AJ smiled, looking over Skyler in her crib whilst Anna smiled standing beside, "It's just me. Your cool aunt." She nodded, stroking her niece's cheek softly, "I brought you some little things." She said.

"AJ." Anna tutted.

"What?" AJ scoffed, "I wanna spoil her now that I have the chance." AJ said, "And plus, I miss buying little girl things. I'm used to… Star Wars and Superheroes everywhere." She shook her head as Anna smiled.

"You don't need to buy her things every time you come see her." Anna smiled. A few weeks had gone by and whilst they were finally getting to settle in with Skyler as a family, everything else also seemed to go back to normal.

"I know but we get CJ things so… it's only fair." AJ smiled, "So I got this." She said, sitting the bag on the changing table and bringing out a little pink jacket, "Cute, right?"

"That's adorable." Anna nodded.

"Hat to match." AJ showed her as Anna smiled, "And Phil… being the sensitive soul he is, he wanted to buy her a hairband." She nodded, extending over the little pink hairband which had clouds on it and a little bow.

"You guys are too much." Anna smiled, "She's so spoiled. JC comes with bags full of things every time he comes to see her." She shook her head, "But thank you, this was really kind. And I love them." She nodded.

"It's ok." AJ shook her head, "How are you finding it?" She asked her. She was on her way back from work when she figured she would pop in for a few minutes just to give in the little gifts.

"Oddly ok." Anna laughed a little, "I thought I'd be freaking out and… not knowing what to do but… we're doing fine." She nodded as AJ smiled.

"That's great." AJ smiled, "How is CJ with her?"

"He loves her." Anna nodded, "He's really happy he's a big brother. He helps me too. Brings me her diapers. Feeds her sometimes. It's really sweet." Anna smiled.

"Where is he? Is he with Paige?" AJ asked, walking out of the nursery where Skyler was drifting back to sleep.

"No, Dean was taking him to his football practise." Anna said.

"Oh, yeah. Phil mentioned that." AJ nodded, "You heard anymore from your mom… or about your mom I should say." AJ said, walking down the stairs as Anna followed behind.

"No, just that she's scheduled to go to court in a few weeks and she's remaining in jail until then." Anna nodded, "Trying not to think about it to be honest." She admitted, reaching the bottom of the stairs and heading to the front door.

"Yeah, that's probably best." AJ said, "Well hey, I know what it's like to have a newborn, things can sometimes get a little exhausting so… any time you need a little break, me and Phil are happy to babysit." She nodded.

"Thanks, AJ." Anna smiled. She really felt like her family was here now. A place where she felt loved, and where she knew her daughter and she were safe, "I think JC is in first line for that, though. He's already said to me multiple times." She laughed a little.

"He's softer than I ever thought." AJ admitted truthfully, "Well you know we're just five minutes away. So anything you need." She said.

"Yeah, we know." Anna smiled.

* * *

AJ got home later on after leaving Anna and Dean's house, walking into her own home where she heard her family in the kitchen. It was nice to know things were good again. All the people she cared about were safe, and all the people who had ever tried to hurt them, had gotten what they deserved.

"Hey." She smiled, walking into the kitchen where Punk was sitting with the kids, helping feed Frankie whilst Keala sat across from him eating her dinner, "What's for dinner tonight then?" She smiled, walking over and stealing a kiss from her son, kissing him on the cheek as he smiled and turned his head around to see her, "Hi, baby." She smiled. He made her melt. He was like this little Puerto Rican Punk with dark hair and the cutest smile.

"We're having lasagne." Keala told her, "And garlic bread." She added.

"One of my favourites." AJ smiled, kissing her daughter on the cheek, making her way around to her husband, "Hi." She smiled, pressing a kiss on his lips.

"Hi." Punk smiled back, glad to see her, "I didn't think you'd be this late." He admitted as AJ walked off to help herself to some dinner and join her family.

"I went to see Anna. Remember I told you last night." AJ said.

"Oh, yeah." Punk nodded, having quite clearly forgotten, "How is Skyler?" He asked as AJ nodded, sitting down beside Keala across from him.

"She's great. So cute." She nodded, "Anna loved the hairband by the way." She smiled as Punk nodded with a smile, "I never got to see Dean, he was taking CJ to his football practise." She said.

"Oh, yeah he mentioned that in work. Said CJ is pretty good actually. We should go to one of his games soon."

"Wasn't Dean quite good at football?" AJ remembered.

"Yeah, he was for a while. After mom died he… he just stopped going." Punk shrugged as AJ nodded, remembering.

"How was school?" AJ turned to Keala who just nodded.

"It was fine." Keala said, separating her lasagne up, pushing the mince to one side with the pasta and sauce to the other, "I got a new book to read. My teacher said some words might be hard so one of you will have to help me maybe." Keala told them.

"We can read some before you go to bed." AJ nodded.

"Ok." AJ smiled, "You heard from your dad?" AJ turned back to Punk.

"No not since a few days ago." Punk said, "Dean said he was babysitting Skyler in a few days. I'm sure we'll hear all about how that goes." He laughed a little.

"Do you think he feels like he's… making it up to himself… trying to be a good grandfather because he wasn't… he wasn't so good at being a father?" She asked.

"I think he's realised he has a family to be honest." Punk said, "I don't know if he ever felt like he had a family before, but you can tell he really wants to be here for us, could be because he's clean for the first time, or because he's actually gotten to know us and realises that… it's not so scary." He said, "I think he feels like he owes it to my mom as well." He nodded.

"What do you mean?" AJ asked him.

"Well… she was the one who took care of us all our lives and… losing her… I knew my mom well enough to know she would have wanted to know me and Dean were ok, and… I think my dad is trying to fill that gap." He nodded, "He's not a terrible person. I know what terrible people do. We've faced a few of them in the past few years." He said as she nodded, "He's not. He just… had a bad start, didn't know what he wanted, didn't know how to be what he wanted to be… he's-he's making up for it now and I… I don't know, I couldn't imagine him not being here now." He admitted truthfully as AJ smiled.

"I'm glad you have him." AJ nodded, "And I'm glad the kids do too. He's great with them." She said, "I don't know, it's just… nice for things to feel normal again." She shook her head as she he smiled and nodded.

"Tell me about it." Punk laughed a little, "I also got a bit of good news today." He said as she looked up.

"Are you pregnant?" She teased as he scoffed.

"I mean…" He looked down at his stomach, "Could be." He nodded as she laughed, causing him to smile. He felt like time had really stood still with them. In a good way. He still felt like they were kids. Everytime he saw her, he still got that flutter in his stomach, that excitement that he could spend the rest of his life with her, "No. I… I got offered the job in the garage." He said as AJ raised her eyebrows.

"Oh my God, are you kidding?" AJ smiled, sitting her fork down.

"Yeah. The owner, Paul, he came by and pretty much offered me it there and then." Punk nodded, "I've been there since I was eighteen, he knows me." He said as AJ nodded, "So I took it." He smiled as she raised her eyebrows.

"Oh my God." AJ smiled, "So is it the same job or are you doing something different?"

"I'm just in charge of a little more that's all." Punk nodded, "And don't forget that pay rise." He said as she smiled. Her excitement for him made him realise why he loved her.

"Congratulations. " AJ smiled, standing up and making her way over to him, sitting down on his lap and giving him a hug, kissing his cheek repeatedly as he laughed a little.

"Alright, alright." He said as she practically smothered him.

"What's going on?" Keala wondered.

"Daddy got a promotion." AJ told her as Keala just stared at her blankly, "A better job." AJ rephrased as Keala nodded and smiled.

"Well done daddy." Keala clapped, "That's good." She nodded as Punk smiled.

"Thanks, kid." Punk laughed a little whilst Frankie clapped his hands, a little delayed but only copying his sister, "Hey, thanks dude." Punk and AJ laughed as their son looked back at his dinner.

"You're a boss now." AJ smiled to him.

"I know it feels weird." Punk admitted.

"You can be _my_ boss tonight." She smirked, "We have celebrating to do." She said quietly as he smiled and nodded.

"We do." He smiled, pressing his lips against hers as she wrapped her hands around his neck and melted into the kiss.

* * *

"Thanks, kid. Just keep the change." JC said, taking in the pizza into his apartment as he paid the kid who delivered it, shutting the door over and making his way back into the apartment, collapsing down on the sofa and sitting the pizza on the coffee table.

He was watching the Cubs game on and off with Vanessa's diary beside him, having been going through it for the past few weeks. Some parts were incredibly challenging, some parts made him smile and laugh.

He opened up the pizza and took a slice, putting his feet back up and reopening the diary where he was at.

 _So I had to collect Phil from school today. He had his first fight. Someone said to Dean he was adopted and he got mad. He's nine. I'm just glad they got each other's backs to be honest. Had to sit him down and explain to him we can't lift our hands to people. It annoyed me because I was glad to know that he had his little brother's back. I mean, I don't want him to fight with anyone but he was standing up for himself and his brother. I don't find anything too wrong with that. I'm a terrible mother, I know. Am I really saying a nine year old kid deserved to be beat on by my nine year old kid? Maybe. I know his dad would be proud of him._

 _Then there was the explaining to Dean that he wasn't really adopted and that I'm still his mother and Phil is still his brother. He looked literally devastated at the possibility of his brother not being his brother. I wanted to cry. He got over it quickly and I got them pizza after the very clearly traumatic day they both had. Made me think about them growing up, becoming their own people, going out into the world. Scared me a little to be honest. If I could hold their hands forever to make sure they were both ok I would. Happily._

 _JC got out of prison a few days ago. Usually he comes to see us, tells me how sorry he is and how disappointed he is in himself, but I think after our last fight he'll keep his distance. I don't want him to think that's what I want. I miss him. I also hate him. But I love him. I wish the boys would understand how great he really is. I don't want them to grow up thinking he's a waste of space. To most people maybe he is but I know him. I know what he can do. I know he loves his family. He just struggles. I think we've both accepted that it's never going to be normal with us. I think normal is boring anyway but… we're never going to have that perfect family, I mean… I'm writing this and I can hear Phil rolling Dean up in bubble wrap next door. We're not normal. I like that._

 _I just want my sons to be ok. I want them to have such a bright future. They're already inseparable, and I know they'll take care of each other. But I want them to be happy and safe. I don't want them to face any hardships, and if they do I just… I want to be there for them, or… I want someone to be there for them. I don't get when people sigh when I tell them how young I was when I had them, because they're the best things to ever happen to me. I mean, they're the funniest people I know and they're only nine and seven. And I don't regret a single thing._

 _I just want them to be ok. Have a good life. Have a great family. I know life is never as simple and straight forward as that. They're gonna be faced with challenges, obviously. That's life. But I know they'll be strong enough for it, no matter what life has to throw at them. I love them so much. And I love JC, wherever he is and wherever I am. Nothing we did was a mistake. I hope the boys get to understand how great he is one day._

* * *

 **A/N: I thought this was a nice way to end this trio of stories! I thought there was more to write about but when I done some rereading at parts I realised that this was the perfect way to end the story! It's been a blast to write these stories. Probably has been my favourite stories I've written and I want to thank the people who've followed them and reviewed! I'm sure I'll be back with something new soon but for now, hope you enjoyed the ending!**


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